Tag Archives: Churches of Newton County GA

Carmel Baptist Church, Circa 1851, Mansfield

Leave a reply

Men from Jefferson Academy established Carmel Baptist Church in 1835, near the Brick Store community. In 1851 the congregation merged with Liberty Baptist Church, which was established circa 1815. The combined congregations chose to use Carmel as the name for the new church and moved to the present location at Mansfield. Enslaved people are known to have attended, as well. Carmel reached its peak membership circa 1911 and around that time, several hundred members left and formed another church in Mansfield. By the early 1970s, the congregation dwindled to a point it could not sustain regular services but family members have kept the structure and adjacent cemetery in excellent condition for over half a century. I imagine it is still used for special events and observations.

Rose Hill School, 1937, Porterdale

Leave a reply

Rose Hill is a historically black community in northeast Porterdale that was originally developed in the early 1900s as a segregated residential community for mill workers. The school was built in 1937 by the Bibb Manufacturing Company and also served as a church and a community gathering place. Rose Hill School and church was the only African American educational establishment in Porterdale while the mill was in operation. The building has remained largely unchanged since construction and reflects a unique era of development in a distinctive mill community.

Porterdale Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Julia A. Porter United Methodist Church, 1925, Porterdale

Leave a reply

As evident in this photograph, and the one below, the Julia A. Porter Church commands a high point in downtown Porterdale, dominating the skyline when seen from the Yellow River bridge.

According to a church history, Rev. Firley Baum was appointed the first pastor of the “Porterdale Mission” by the North Georgia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1903. 35 charter members joined the Porterdale Church and first met in the Community Building, and from 1917 until the construction of the present structure, the met in the Porterdale School. Rev. J. J. Mize led a capital campaign for the construction of the new church, which was completed in 1925. James Hyde Porter (1873-1949) was the largest benefactor and asked only that the church be named for his mother, Julia Antoinette McCracken Porter (1838-1926), which it was. Mrs. Porter was known for her charitable work within the mill community and was turned the first shovel of dirt and was present at the dedication. One source states she died a year later but her gravestone records the date as 1926. Her charitable works continue not only within the congregation but through a foundation that still sustains the community.

Porterdale Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Prayer Chapel, 1875, Oxford

Leave a reply

One of the stated purposes of Emory College was the integration of religion and education and to this end a chapel was built in 1838 to serve the students and by extension the community. It was a simple wooden structure, typical of churches of the time, and was used until the construction of this more formal structure in 1875. When the present chapel was completed, the old prayer chapel was donated to and moved off campus for the use of Rust Chapel, an African-American congregation. When Emory College was founded, nearly everyone in the community was affiliated with the Methodist church, but today, the prayer chapel serves people of all faiths.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Allen Memorial United Methodist Church, 1910, Oxford

Leave a reply

Built to replace the Old Church, the sprawling Young J. Allen Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was dedicated in 1910. Its namesake was quite famous in church circles.

Young John Allen (1836-1907), or Young J. Allen as more often written, was born in Burke County, to a father who died before his birth and a mother who died soon afterward, according to Findagrave. He was raised by a maternal aunt in the Primitive Baptist tradition of his family but converted to Methodism at the age of 17. An 1858 honor graduate of Emory College, he married Mary Houston (1838-1927), a native of Coweta, a day after commencement. In 1859, Young sold his land and slaves and sailed for Shanghai with his wife and infant daughter. While taking numerous jobs to support his family during the early years in China, he engaged in missionary work, translated many religious texts, established newspapers and periodicals, and founded several school. He made many trips back to the United States to report on his mission work but would never make a permanent return.

Alexander F. N. Everett, a prominent Atlanta architect, was responsible for the eclectic Beaux Arts design.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Old Church, 1841, Oxford

Leave a reply

Oxford was established by the Methodists and at the center of the community was the Oxford Methodist Episcopal (M.E.) Church. The cornerstone was laid in 1841 and from 1843 until the construction of the Young J. Allen Memorial Methodist Church in 1910, served as Commencement Hall for Emory College. In 1864, it served as a temporary hospital for casualties of the Battle of Atlanta. It’s the oldest extant non-residential building in Oxford. [A similar church, architecturally, is the Dorchester Presbyterian Church in Liberty County].

The wings visible at both sides were added in 1878 and give the church its cruciform shape. After the New Church opened in 1910, the Old Church was allowed to deteriorate, so much so that in 1948, the town of Oxford took bids for its demolition. Luckily, it was saved and stands today a symbol of both school and community. No longer a church, it is occasionally used for events and private gatherings.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Rust Chapel United Methodist Church, 1908, Oxford

1 Reply

Rust Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church was established by Freedmen soon after the Civil War, in 1867. In 1869, a charity of the northern Methodist Episcopal Church known as the Freedmen’s Aid Society established a school and church, named Rust Chapel for Rev. Richard S. Rust, who served as secretary of the society.

The old day chapel which had been used on the Emory College campus was donated to Rust Chapel and moved to this location. After it burned in the early 1900s, the present structure was built. Rust Chapel continued to operate a school, essential in the Jim Crow South, until the construction of a Rosenwald school.

I’m unsure if the church was included in the National Register Historic District when it was created in 1975, but it certainly should be. It’s physically part of the district and of equal importance to other public buildings, so I’m including it for reference.

Oxford Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Newborn United Methodist Church, 1902, Newton County

Leave a reply

Established in 1820, Newborn United Methodist is the oldest church in Newton County. This is the third church to have been built on this site. When Newborn was known as Sandtown, pioneer members of the Methodist Episcopal congregation built a log cabin church here. It was replaced by a more permanent structure in 1847, and the present church was built in 1902 and dedicated in 1903.

Newborn Historic District, National Register of Historic Places

Mt. Pleasant United Methodist Church, Circa 1870, Newton County

Leave a reply

This beautiful church, whose congregation was established around 1851, is located just up the road from the Brick Store. A history in the archives of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church written in 1950 by Dorothy Gray Bolton suggests the first church was burned during the Civil War and for a time the congregation worshiped in a brush arbor, then a small frame church nearby which was later given to a black congregation upon the completion of this structure. I would guess that would date it to around 1867-1875 but cannot confirm it at this time.