Anchors of Faith: Early Wooden Churches of the Deep South

By Martha Lee Dickson

Reflecting times of untrammeled faith and religious values, Martha Dickson's Anchors of Faith gives a pictorial overview of 145 mostly late-nineteenth-century wooden churches located in southern Alabama, Mississippi, and throughout Florida. The churches featured, which span over a hundred years of history, embody the indomitable religious spirit of their builders. Anchors of Faith is more than just a pictorial encyclopedia, however. The author's descriptions and photos provide detailed information about both the architecture of these houses of worship and the related history, from the founding of these institutions to their current state.

Among the jewels featured in Anchors of Faith, Dickson traces the Presbyterian Church of Union Church, Mississippi all the way back to its Gaelic-speaking Scottish Presbyterian immigrants from North Carolina. The author tells the story of the modest start of the East Hill Baptist Church Chapel in Tallahassee, whose congregation formed itself by meeting in one another's houses due to World War II. The distinctive details of the unusual "house of cards"-like facade of Hatchechubbee United Methodist Church in Hatchechubbee, Alabama, and the Carpenter Gothic style of St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Merritt Island, Florida reveal the architectural uniqueness of some Southern places of worship.

From Greek Revival to Victorian Gothic, Dickson helps add to the understanding of religious faith in the rural South through the architecture and history of its many surviving wooden churches.

• Language: English
• Publisher: NewSouth Books
• Release date: Jul 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781603063128

Martha Lee Dickson

MARTHA LEE DICKSON is a graduate of Howard College (now Samford University). She has worked for Howard College, Florida State University, and Pensacola State College. She has also served in several church-related paid and volunteer positions. She is the author of Gordon, Alabama: Pioneer Riverboat Town and Shorelights, a devotional book.

Book preview

Anchor of Faith

Early Wooden Churches of the Deep South

Martha Lee Dickson

With photographs by the author

NEWSOUTH BOOKS

Montgomery

Also by Martha Lee Dickson

Gordon, Alabama: Pioneer Riverboat Town

Shorelights

NewSouth Books

105 S. Court Street

Montgomery, AL 36104

Copyright © 2014 by Martha Lee Dickson. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by NewSouth Books, a division of NewSouth, Inc., Montgomery, Alabama.

ISBN: 9781603063111

eBook ISBN: 9781603063128

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013043734

Visit www.newsouthbooks.com

For Mother,

Lois Meadows Lee,

who never forgot Church.

And for my three M’s:

Max, Melissa, and Marcie.

Contents

Preface

Introduction

Alabama

Autaugaville United Methodist Church

Swift Presbyterian Church

Swedish Lutheran Zion Church

Montgomery Hill Baptist Church

Grace Episcopol Church

Spring Hill United Methodist Church

Mount Zion Baptist Church

Woodstock United Methodist Church

Green Pond Presbyterian Church

Fitzpatrick Baptist Church

Wayman Chapel AME Church

Forest Home Methodist Church

Wesley Chapel Methodist Church

Mt. Zion Primitive Baptist Church

Pine Flat Methodist Church

Lebanon Presbyterian Church

Bethlehem Baptist Church

Fairfax First Christian Church

Isabella Methodist Church

Ebenezer Baptist Church

Gainstown United Methodist Church

Williams Temple Christian Methodist Episcopol Church

Belleville Baptist Church

Rockford United Methodist Church

Sears Chapel United Methodist Church

Dixie Community Church

Memorial United Methodist Church

Dozier United Methodist Church

Searight United Methodist Church

Union Presbyterian Church

Pleasant Grove Primitive Baptist Church

Marion Junction Presbyterian Church

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church (Carlowville)

Plantersville Christian Church

Mount Carmel Church

Pleasant Hill Baptist Church

Summerfield Methodist Church

Collinsville Presbyterian Church

Deatsville United Methodist Church

Elmore United Methodist Church

Robinson Springs United Methodist Church

First Presbyterian Church

Boligee Presbyterian Church

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church

Clinton Baptist Church

First Baptist Church of Clinton (Former Ebenezer Presbyterian Church)

First Presbyterian Church

Saint John’s Episcopal Church

Former Methodist Church

Newbern Baptist Church

Newbern Presbyterian Church

Madrid United Methodist Church

Old Kimbrell Methodst Church

Gold Hill United Methodist Church

Roxana United Methodist Church

Mt. Zion United Methodist Church

Ft. Deposit United Methodist Church

Lowndesboro Historic CME Church

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church

Lowndesboro Presbyterian Church PCA

Dayton United Methodist Church

Faunsdale Presbyterian Church

St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church

Jefferson Baptist Church

Jefferson Methodist Church

Brilliant United Methodist Church

Little White Chapel (First Baptist Church)

St. Peter The Apostle Catholic Church

New Hope Baptist Church

Barbara Locklin Memorial Baptist Church

Perdue Hill Union Church

Vrendenburgh Baptist Church

Pisgah Primitive Baptist Church

Old Ramer Baptist Church and Ramer Masonic Lodge #243

Little Oak United Methodist Church

Hatchechubbee United Methodist Church

Pittsview United Methodist Church

Uchee Chapel Methodist Church

Brewersville United Methodist Church

Church of God (Holiness) Wesleyan in Doctrine

Cuba Baptist Church

Gainesville Presbyterian Church

Geiger First United Methodist Church

Andrews Chapel (Also known as McIntosh Log Church)

Fruitdale Church of the Brethren

St. Stephens United Methodist Church

Furman Methodist Church

Bethel Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church

Pine Apple Methodist Church

Florida

Bethlehem Presbyterian Church (USA)

LaCross Baptist Church

Former Episcopal Church of Waldo (now Yerkes Center)

First Presbyterian Church

City Point Community Church

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

LaGrange Community Church

St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church

First Presbyterian Church

Middleburg Methodist Church

Tustennuggee United Methodist Church

Falling Creek United Methodist Church

First Baptist Church

Trinity Episcopal Church

First United Methodist Church

Old Philadelphia Presbyterian Church

Former St. Joseph Catholic Mission Church

First United Methodist Church

Christ Episcopal Church

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church

First United Pentecostal Church

East Hill Baptist Church Chapel (D. A. Avant Chapel)

Bronson United Methodist Church

Concord Missionary Baptist Church

Shiloh Methodist Church

Cherry Lake United Methodist Church

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

First Baptist Church

Citra United Methodist Church

Orange Springs Community Church

Ocala Bible Chapel (Formerly United Hebrews of Ocala)

Macedonia African Methodist Episcopal Church

Christ Episcopal Church

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church

Welaka United Methodist Church

Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

All Saints’ Episcopal Church

Grace Episcopal Church

St. Agatha’s Episcopal Church

Moss Hill United Methodist Church

Mississippi

Shubuta Baptist Church

Shubuta United Methodist Church

Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church

Pineville Presbyterian Church

Our Mother of Mercy Catholic Church

Learned United Methodist Church

St. Mark’s Episcopal Church

St. John’s Episcopal Church

Union Church Presbyterian

Bogue Chitto Methodist Church

Fernwood United Methodist Church

First Christian Church

Magnolia Presbyterian Church

St. Joseph Catholic Church

Woodville United Methodist Church

Sources

About the Author

Preface

I was born in Alabama and have lived most of my adult life in the Panhandle of Florida. As I grow older, I have become emotionally attached to the rural Deep South; its culture is so tenuous as rural areas empty out and cities fill up. For me, old wooden churches embody the will of those who built them and the faith of those who have worshiped in them for many decades. Once they were the centers of community life, but it seems that in today’s fast-paced world, the way of life these churches represent is endangered. Consequently, for two full years, 2008 and 2009, I traveled the back roads of the Deep South to document wooden churches, primarily old rural ones. On two- and three-day trips, covering thousands of miles, I searched for anchors of faith. I took four or five photographs of more than 450 church buildings, and selected 145 for inclusion in this book. My selection is meant to give a representative view of denominations and a degree of balance among the three states. The entire collection of early wooden church photographs is housed in the Wiregrass Archives at the Troy University Dothan Campus in Dothan, Alabama.

This endeavor was not haphazard; rather my excursions were based on research: in denominational listings, in the National Register of Historic Places, in state historical commission records, and in the records of the Historic Chattahoochee Commission. A few churches had written histories, some of which were online; others had very little information at all. I found that personal contacts with older members of congregations often revealed the most interesting information. For consistency, I have limited the comments on the individual churches to a standard format. I supplemented information on individual churches with research on denominations and on architecture; the sources of this information are listed in the bibliography. This information appears in the introduction and, briefly, in the comments on individual churches.

Anchors of Faith is a work of love. My hope is that those with active congregations will thrive and that those that are now redundant will be reborn. I also hope that you the reader will appreciate these physical reminders of the faith of our fathers and that you will find a place in your heart for these anchors of faith.

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Martin T. Olliff, director, Wiregrass Archives, and associate professor of history, Troy University Dothan Campus, and Dr. Mike Holmes, former assistant professor of history, Troy University Dothan Campus for reading the material, making suggestions, and being invaluable guides on history and architecture. Dr. Olliff and Dr. Holmes helped with architectural details for some of the entries, as well as providing information on black churches. Mrs. Rosemary Hale of Pensacola, Florida, provided invaluable help with the photographs. The book would have been impossible without the help of denominational associations, local ministers, and many, many gracious people who love their home churches. Jeff Benton of NewSouth Books provided invaluable editorial assistance.

Introduction

Words of poet Amy Lowell spring to mind when first sighting these wooden churches of a past century: The sight of a white church above thin trees in a city square/Amazes my eyes as though it were the Parthenon.

Finding abundant forests of pine, oak, and cypress—choice timber for building —and endowed with strong faith and purpose, early nineteenth century settlers who poured into Southern territory wrested from Indian ownership soon erected places for communal worship. First came brush arbors, crude structures usually featuring rough benches under log-supported roofs of small limbs, vines, and brush. Next came log churches, some of which survive today. Finally, with the invention of the circular saw and water-powered sawmills, inexpensive uniform lumber was available. Then came the steam-powered scroll saw that allowed more inventive decorative trim. Although some settlers of varying nationalities built according to their native construction practices and the demands of their worship traditions, in general, an almost generic meeting house predominated. Foremost, however, was the sheer determination expressed, as one minister said quoting some early German immigrants, Church first and best, then our homes slightly later.

Early wooden churches that have survived are seen most often in rural areas and small communities; some remain even in now languishing small towns while a few are preserved in cities. Most of these are carefully maintained by those who recognize and value their heritage; many have been placed on historic registers.

Architecture

Approximately a third of the early wooden churches featured in this book were built before 1865, slightly more that half were built between 1865 and 1900, and about a fifth were built between 1900 and 1940, most of these early in the century. Basically, there were two inspirational sources from architectural history: the classical styles of ancient Greece and Rome and the Christian styles of medieval Europe. The most popular building styles of