The architecture of Oak Grove is the board-and-batten vernacular style emblematic of the Crawfordite meeting houses. The beautiful interior is smaller than most but equally awe-inspiring.
The pulpit, or “the stand’ as it’s known by these congregations, is always oriented at the side of the meeting house.
The earliest headstones date to the turn of the last century. An infant burial of 1901 is the earliest I could locate in the cemetery, but there are many Brantley county pioneer families represented here.
The dates in the cemetery would suggest that this congregation is a bit younger than other Hardshell churches in the area.
Thanks for all these “Hardshell” church pics Brian. I was never aware of any rural Primitive Baptist Churches until you began to put them on line a few weeks ago. It is amazing at how much alike all these great old buildings are. I wonder if anyone might have any knowledge why they are all so similar or perhaps whether there was a “Master Builder” or two traveling around erecting these buildings in the same way there was for many of our old covered bridges.