Founded by freedmen circa 1867, St. Mark’s was one of the first A. M. E. congregations in Hancock County and was a major social and cultural influence on the newly emancipated African-American community of Sparta. The present structure dates to either 1892 or 1901.
I want to thank you for all your hard work in documenting so much that is vital to the history of Georgia. It is a sad statement that so much of the history of the 13th Colony, the State of Georgia, and indeed the history of this nation, is abandoned and forgotten. This is my family’s church, the Dixons, Claytons, Hamiltons, and perhaps even some of the Gordons, Greenes, and Sanders, all major names in the Sparta and Culloden areas. I pray that some sort of fund and gathering of human souls grounded in God’s grace take on saving as many of these structures throughout the State as is humanly possible. May God continue to bless and favor your life, your family, and all your financial holdings.