Tag Archives: Churches of Hancock County GA

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church Cemetery, Hancock County

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Mt. Zion’s historic cemetery is quite large and situated on hilly terrain. There is a nice variety of memorials, including many modern commercial types, but mixed among them are quite a few vernacular types, including these local granite stones. The names of the decedents are long lost.

Jeff Mapp (1900-1973)

This is one of several markers by Eldren Bailey found in Mt. Zion. This one has been painted white and was purchased through the Houston Funeral Home.

Willis James

I believe this is a child’s grave, since it identifies the decedent as “Master”. This term is commonly used with children. Like many memorials by Eldren Bailey, this one has been “buried” a few inches into the ground.

Louise Hillman

This Elden Bailey-produced memorial was sold through Atlanta’s Haugabrooks Funeral Home.

Deacon Lueagon Elbert Moss (1873-1958) and Mariah Moss (1872-1959) + Arthur Moss

The memorial for Deacon & Mrs. Moss is typical of the stenciled concrete markers found in the older sections of the cemetery. Arthur Moss may have been one of their children. His memorial is hand made.

Caroline Barrow ((1850?-1901)

This one of several older commercial marble memorials in the cemetery.

Robert Lee Bennett (1950-1970)

This handmade memorial is bordered with small rocks or pebbles. I believe there was something attached where the hole is now.

Cyrus Howell (1878-1956) Findagrave lists 1874 as the birthdate, but I think that is an error.

Mr. Howell was the oldest deacon at Mt. Zion at the time of his death.

Addie Lawrence (Dates undetermined; Findagrave records it as 1874-1961)

This is another nice example of a vernacular memorial using stencils that adds an extra touch with the impression of a dove. Mrs. Lawrence was a well-loved member of the Mt. Zion community and worked as a midwife for many years. In 1930, with M. C. Lawrence, Mattie Lawrence, M. F. Hillman, A. F. Tucker, R. B. Glover, Cyrus Howell and Lucy Kendrick, she formed a benevolent institution known as the “Band of Faithful Workers”. According to their legal petition filed with the county, the purpose of their institution was “caring for the sick and burial of the dead”.

Mt. Zion Schoolhouse + Precinct House, Hancock County

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This little pyramidal building in the churchyard of historic Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church originally served as a schoolhouse but more recently was used as a voting precinct. The community is known as Mt. Zion for the nearby Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church and its long vanished academy. It is an early area of settlement in Hancock County.

Sign for older voters

The structure appears to be primarily used for the disposal of old cemetery flowers today, inside and outside. It’s a better idea than throwing them in the woods, which I see at a lot of churches.

I hope this amazing resource will survive. Though it looks to be very endangered, it’s been here for many years and would have already been razed had the congregation not appreciated its historical importance.

Brown Chapel AME Church, 1927, Hancock County

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Brown Chapel AME was established by freedmen on 18 February 1875. I’m unsure as to the early history, but a G. Brown was listed among the trustees when the cornerstone was placed for this structure in 1927. There are just a few Browns in the cemetery, but there are also many unmarked graves. The oldest identifiable Brown was Roann Brown (1862-1916). I don’t know if they have a connection to the name or not.

The church is one of my favorites and definitely one of the most architecturally notable in Hancock County. I call this steeple style a “wedding cake” for lack of a better term. Black Rock AME in Wilkes County is another “wedding cake” church, but its “layers” are narrower and taller. The front porch of Brown Chapel was added in 1971, but otherwise the church is largely original.

Springfield Baptist Church, 1879, Hancock County

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Springfield Baptist Church took its name from the community of freedmen that grew up around the Black-owned farms of the three Hubert brothers, Zack, David, and Floyd. When clearing land in the mid 1870s, one of the brothers discovered a large spring across the road from the present location, and services were first held in a brush arbor near the spring.

In the November 2002 issue of Reflections, the newsletter of the Georgia African-American Historic Preservation Network, Jeanne Cyriaque indicates that by 1877 Zach Hubert had already implemented a church building program for the burgeoning congregation. She also notes that the church was built the next year. I believe it was formally dedicated on 12 July 1879. If this is the original church building, it was obviously sided with brick later in its history. The congregation remains active today.

Camilla-Zack Community Center District, National Register of Historic Places

Bethel Baptist Church, 1828, Hancock County

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By some accounts, Bethel Baptist is the oldest surviving congregation in Hancock County. Land for the first church was purchased from Benjamin Thompson in 1801 and it was constituted in October 1802 by Elders Thomas Mercer and Benjamin Thompson, with twelve members. It was located on Old Bethel Hill about three miles east of Sparta on Shoals Road.

I’m dating the structure to 1828 based on the Baptist Association Minutes of 1880, which state: This church was first located on what is now known as Old Bethel Hill about three miles east of Sparta. We are unable to tie the history of this church from its constitution, till the year 1828. In February, 1828 it was removed to its present site, six miles east of Sparta, near the banks of the Little Ogheechee [sic] river. The land for the new site was deeded by John S. Latimer, and the deed names the following trustees of the church: Jesse Lockhart, David Hitchcock, William Barksdale and Byrd W. Brazill. It’s possible that this notation only indicated that the congregation itself changed locations and the church structure came later but the minutes make no mention of this.

They also note that before the Civil War, a third of the membership was African-American, indicating that members brought enslaved people to services. After Emancipation, they formed their own church, known as Hickory Grove.

St. Paul CME Church, 1890s, Hancock County

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According to Harrell Lawson, St. Paul CME traces its origins to a group of enslaved men and women from David Dickson’s nearby plantation who began holding informal services in a brush arbor in 1857. In 1870, the members purchased land on which today’s church stands in order to have a permanent meeting place but due to confusion over two different deeds (1870, 1877), Lawson doesn’t note exactly when the first church was built. Since the CME church was not founded as a national entity until 1870, it is thought that that association came later. Resource surveys date the present structure to 1890, though I have been unable to confirm the date.

Old St. Galilee Baptist Church, Hancock County

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This is the original home of Saint (St.) Galilee Baptist Church, which has a newer facility in Sparta today. I’m not sure when the church was established , nor when this structure was built. It was sided with false brick siding (tar paper) before it was bricked. A very large and well-maintained cemetery is adjacent to the property.

St. Mark’s A. M. E. Church, Sparta

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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.

Horeb Baptist Church, 1824, Mayfield

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Organized as Folsom Creek Baptist Church on 28 June 1792 by Adam Jones and Jeptha Vining, this church was renamed Horeb in 1798 and relocated to the present location in 1799. As was often the case, slaves were members until the Civil War and some are buried in the adjacent cemetery. Newly emancipated, African-Americans began to organize their own churches after the war. At its bicentennial in 1992, membership in Horeb had dwindled to such a low number that the church officially disbanded. It is still well-maintained and used for occasional events and services.

Mayfield Methodist Church, 1949, Hancock County

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I believe this was built by the Mayfield Methodist Church to replace an earlier structure on the site dating to 1897. The property was a gift of Lena Birdsong. The congregation formed earlier in the 1890s and originally met in members’ homes and a one-room schoolhouse. Construction began on this church in 1949, but I’m not sure when it was completed. The congregation was never very large and disbanded years ago.

In recent years it has been home to a couple of African-American congregations, including the Mayfield Church of God in Christ and the Ogeechee Ministries of God.