Here are churches that are predominately built before 1900. Other churches can exist here if they are of some other significance whether it be architecture or other significance.
I was recently traveling through the area where Monroe, Wilcox, and Clarke, counties join. This is a very remote area West of the Alabama River. 31.911855, -87.611717
I was able to see this beautiful old church standing beside the road. I was excited to see that it was listed as one of the Black Belt Treasures. Above I shared the tag that you can call the number and get the information on it from.
Upon closer examination I found it to be an old Methodist Church. As with so many of the old churches I see in my travels it had the trademark single doors one on each side. I mention it often when I comment on these old churches. This appears to be a very common way to date many of these old churches as mid to late 1800’s builds. Although not all inclusive it seems to be a common thread of many. It was not a particular of any one denomination.
On more than one occasion I have been told that the single doors one on each side were for a reason. The men and older boys would enter and sit on the right-hand side of the church through the right door. The women girls and small children would enter through the left door, and they would sit on the left side of the church. Walking through the grounds of this beautiful old church one could only wonder at the numbers of families that this church had served in the years it was in active service.
Click picture to enlarge
Click picture to enlarge
Standing on the property it is like one can feel a sense of unity, joy and peace that it has brought to hundreds, if not thousands over the century that it has stood.
Liberty Methodist Church is located in Southwestern Wilcox County, Alabama. It is located on County Road 1 about three miles South of the community of Sunny South. You see it on your right as you head South towards Lower Peachtree.
Liberty Methodist was built in the mid 1800’s and was active through the mid 1900’s. At the time of this update, I have not heard a date that it closed for regular services. The church is now under private ownership.
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There is now an annual homecoming event held each year the first Sunday in October. The church stands adjoining to a well-kept cemetery that contains the graves of many of the early settlers of the area around where it stands.
This is yet one more reminder of a great beautiful old church that was in all probability the glue that held a community together until the numbers of people in the community dwindled until there was not enough left to keep the doors open.
Recently my wife and I got up on a Saturday morning and after coffee, and breakfast, we decided to set out on another adventure. It was one of those days that we leave home with no destination in mind. Just a wherever the road takes you kind of day. Heading East we wound up in Conecuh County.
As we came around a curve in the road and looked up we saw this beautiful old church sitting there and immediately knew that we had to stop and take a photo or two and read the signs out front.
We were at Brooklyn Baptist Church. From the very first look it appeared to be a building of the mid 1800’s by the front doors one on each side. Somewhere in time it had been remodeled and those two doors sealed up and double doors installed in the middle of the front.
Common practice for churches built in the mid 1800’s were the two separate doors. In most of the ones I have heard it mentioned in the right door was where the men and boys entered, and they sat on the right side. The women, girls, and small children, normally entered through the left door and sat on the left side of the church.
Click picture to enlarge
Click picture to enlarge
A spacious well-kept cemetery joined the church with on the right side facing the church while tables out back covered by an open shed sat behind the church holding the strong appearance and beauty of the mid 1800’s churches.
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Walking up to the front I saw a marker standing in front of the chruch.
As I walked up and started reading, I found a marker that stated a brief history of this beautiful church:
“Brooklyn Baptist Church was organized by Elder Alexander Travis in 1821 in a log building used as a school and house of worship in mid Brooklyn next to the Methodist Cemetery. Elder Travis served many years as preacher of Brooklyn Missionary Baptist Church.
Interesting note here: Alexander Travis was an uncle to William Travis who died at the Alamo, and also organized Bellville Baptist Church in 1821 and was pastor there also.
In 1860 Eli Hirchfeilder conveyed title to three acres of land up the hill adjoining Brooklyn Academy to the Trustees and Deacons of Missionary Baptist Church Congregation: Charles Floyd, Zachariah Williams, Charles W. Snowden, and Andrew J. Robinson.
On this land called Academy Hill he current church sanctuary was completed in October 1861. The Floyd Family gave the land for the cemetery to the church in 1862.
Brooklyn Baptist church was added to the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage Committee in 1983 and continues to provide a place where God’s word is proclaimed some 200 years later”.
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This incredibly beautiful mid 1800’s church sits today holding much of the original appearance but apparently remodeled to be comfortable in today’s modern times. This appears to be a church that will hold prominence for many years in the future.
This appears to be a church that has withstood the test of time and has blessed many generations of people of the community around where it stands.
It was truly a blessing to see and hopefully in the future see again. One can only imagine what other history this beautiful church and the generations of congregations who have attended hold.
If you have further information on this church you would like to share please comment in the comments section of this blog.
There are many old churches in South Alabama that I visit and have written about or I am researching to write about. Of all that there are out there though Reaves Chapel in Southern Wilcox County holds more prominence for me than any other I can name. It does so for several reasons. First off, my Father, Grandparents, Great Grandparents, and Great Great Grandparents, are all buried there. Not only them but numerous other people who have influenced or been a part of my life in some way.
From my earliest childhood I remember visiting the cemetery there and going through it with my Great Aunt who is also buried there. One of my greatest regrets I have in life right now is that I cannot remember the stories that she told me about the people that she knew that are buried there. Unfortunately, I was too young and there were too many to get.
As always, I am searching for information and history on things of old. Recently I was able to get my hands on some information on Reaves Chapel Church and Cemetery. There is a pamphlet compiled by a lady by the name of Florence Lambrecht Swanson that I was able to read some information from that she had compiled. I was immediately enthralled by this particular piece of information because as I was reading through it I saw two names that immediately jumped out at me. The name of Minnie Knight Jordan, and Will Knight. Minnie Jordan being my Great Aunt that I had stayed with as a preschooler, whom I had walked the cemetery with many times hearing the stories of the folks that were buried there. Will Knight was of course my grandfather. I had also heard many stories from him along the way over my lifetime.
One story that jumped out at me from this little publication was the story of the Mystery Grave. I had heard the story numerous times as a child. My great aunt and my grandfather had both walked me to the exact spots in the cemetery where the shoes had hung on the fence and the grave was. When I saw the story in her booklet I was totally enthralled because she was quoting my grandfather and credited him for telling the story. Below I will share the story word from word from her booklet and the illustration used in her booklet:
Taken from the Booklet on Reaves Chapel by Florence Lambrecht Swanson
Reaves Chapel Mystery, or Ghost Grave
Grave 1, Section A (not marked)
Each cemetery has its mystery or ghost grave, and Reaves Chapel is no exception. The following story was told by W.J. “Bill” Knight who was a student of Reaves Chapel School when the event took place in about 1917-1918. According to Bill:
“We left school at the end of classes one afternoon, and all was quiet and peaceful on Reaves Chapel Hill. It was a dreary Fall afternoon, with a slow misty rain falling and a heavy fog hanging low over the hill and surrounding hollows.
The next morning, in the playing about the school yard and cemetery area as usual before the bell, we discovered a new grave. In the far-left corner of the cemetery where none had been the afternoon before. The red clay soil was carefully mounded over the grave and hanging on the fence at the head of the grave was a pair of mud-spattered, cracked brogan shoes with run down heels tied together by the laces. We ran to the teacher in great excitement, all talking at once about what we had found. Not much schoolwork was done that day.
This discovery caused great concern and much speculation in the community, and several opinions were expressed concerning the grave. One was that the grave could contain the body of a member of an outlaw gang which was reported to have passed through the community sometime that same period. Another was that a convict had been killed, whether by fair or foul means it was not said, as the sawmill camp located nearby which used white convict labor and buried there during the night.
To this date, no one knows “Who’s There.”
More history in her booklet is as follows as closely word for word as I can decipher and type it. Again I give all credit to Florence Lambrecht Swanson who researched and wrote the publication.
The History of Reaves Chapel Church and Cemetery
Reaves(Reeves) Chapel Church and Cemetery are located approximately 15 miles southeast of Camden, Alabama on Reaves Chapel Road, new Wilcox County Road No. 16 on 2.41 acres of land in the NE ¼ of NE ¼ of Section 2 Township 10, Range 7E. This land was included in the U.S. Patent Certificate No. 40,863 received by James L. Reeves (Reaves) on December 1, 1852.
The first documentary evidence of Reaves Chapel Church and Cemetery is the land deed executed Feb 19, 1901 by Jesse Thomas and Elizabeth F. Reaves transferring the property “known as Reaves Chapel Church and Graveyard” to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, through trustees R. A. Smith, J.W. Boroughs, A. Holloman, and E.S. Farish Jr. Jesse Thomas and John W. Reaves were sons of James L. Reaves.
James L. Reaves, a pioneer settler of the community was born in Kentucky in 1800 and came to the area while it was still part of the Mississippi Territory. He married Sarah S. Vinson, daughter of John W Vinson (Vincent) in Monroe County December 25, 1833. His first homestead was on 40.27 ½ acres of land in Wilcox County in the NE ¼ of the SE ¼ of Section 1, Township 10, Range 7, which he received August 1, 1837 under U.S. Land Patent No. 25,703. He sold this area to Joshua Peavy, Methodist Minister, on October 20, 1841 for $350.00 (Wilcox County Land Records, Book G, page 195), and built his home in Section 35 where part of the log and frame house still stands. The “Location Map,” page 1, shows the location of this home site, of Reaves Chapel Church and Cemetery, and the “Original Reeves-Farish-Mallard) Cemetery.”
The exact date that the Reaves Chapel Church was established is in question. The property was deeded to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in 1901. The phrase in the deed, “known as Reaves Chapel Church and Graveyard,” seems to indicate that it was already in use as a house of worship before 1901. Also, the certification affixed to the deed, “this is to certify that we release all claims we hold against the lands ‘known as the Reaves Chapel Church and Graveyard land’ this February 19, 1901,” and signed by T.B. Farish & Company, has the same meaning.
It is thought that the 1901, date of the first deed, is the date Reaves Chapel affiliated with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Reaves Chapel either operated as an independent church before 1901. Or under one of the several different Methodist Conferences in Alabama during the 1800’s. Dr. M.E. Lazenby, in his “History of Methodism in Alabama and West Florida, page 163 gives an interesting account of Methodist Protestant Church, which eventually joined with the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, to form the Methodist Church.
It is believed and supported by facts listed below that the Reaves (Reeves) Chapel church was founded around 1859-1869 and is in use as a house of worship by the mid 1870’s. Information given by a former member, 1870’s as the date of the first burial in an unmarked grave, 1872, 1874, and the baptismal date of a former member all support the fact that it was in use before 1901.
Mrs. Samuel Ross (Harriett Issie Reaves) Thompson, Jr age 93 years at the time she gave the information in 1977, a former member whose family were members or Reaves Chapel since its beginning, related that her father Willian McDaniel Reaves, was born November 15, 1844.
She said, “Papa often told me that when he was about 15 years old, in about 1859-1860, he accompanied his father, James L. Reeves, and several neighbors about the community to collect funds to build the church which had been planned. Some interested parties gave money, others pledged materials for the building, and others offered their help in the construction. Building of the church was a slow process as the men only worked on the building when they were not busy with their crops, and more than one trip around the neighborhood for funds was necessary before it was completed and ready for use.
“He said,” she continued , “that the original church was constructed of logs, cut by the men, and finished with wide plank flooring, ceiling and walls. It as used as a church and school until it was destroyed by fire sometime during the period 1890-1895. It was replaced by the present white frame church which was built in about 1896-1900.”
Reeves Chapel Church
The present church was built with two front entrances with steps leading to each. As was customary in many of he early churches, the men and boys entered the church through the right doorway and sat on the right side, and the ladies, girls, and very small children entered through the left doorway and sat in benches on the left side of the church, “ she added.
This beautiful old church still sits in the same location that it has for so many years. Meeting once a year family of those buried here and those wanting to learn of this rich history join to have a meal and meet concerning the business needed to keep the memorial going. Hopefully this beautiful place can continue to be maintained far into the decades and possibly even centuries to come.
If you have ties or other additions to this article please comment in the comments section.
History is a boundless thing in the Southlands of the United States. At every turn in the road there is something historical and beautiful to look at. Being a native of Monroe County Alabama and a wanderer I am always confronted with something to see and investigate and learn more about.
Although I have lived here all my life there are so many things that I have seen countless times and yet I still know so little about. I am sure that this is true for so many people as they go about their daily lives.
Recently I was out exploring and taking photos because that is what I do and I rode in to Vredenburgh, Alabama.
For those that do not know Vredenburgh is in the very Northern most part of Monroe County. It was a sawmill town in the early 1900’s that employed many people. There were streets lined with houses that were company houses that the employees lived in with their families and at one time was a modern town for its time.
The object of my search on this trip was the Vredenburgh Baptist Church. It is located on the Eastern part of town right off the main drag.
Upon taking a few photos and leaving I did what I always do and went home, sorted through the bounty of pictures I had taken that day. I then shared some to the various sites on social media and uploaded a few to my web site where I load pictures for all of the churches I photograph. Discussion is aways interesting on the photos. Being this one is a very historical one immediately conversation got to getting more info on it. Reason being that is what I do. Pastor Dorsey McDonald said “Hey, I can get you some history on this one.” So here it is.
According to history given to me by members of the church on a document written by Margret McIntosh.
Quoting as follows:
The History of Vredenburgh Baptist Church
1912-2012
The history of Vredenburgh Baptist Church cannot be told without telling the beginning of the town of Vredenburgh.
Peter Vredenburgh Jr owned a sawmill in Pine Hill, Alabama. This mil had a limited number of resources, so he started to scout around for more timberland. He found large tracts in Monroe and Wilcox counties that could be purchased for a very good price. He purchased approximately 80,000 acres and built a sawmill in a place he called Vredenburgh. Construction on the mill was begin in 1910 and completed in 1912. At that time houses were built, along with a large commissary, doctors office, and two churches. The Vredenburgh Baptist Church was one of those churches.
The Vredenburgh Family donated pew furniture and had pews made for each church. Mrs. Peter Vredenburgh Jr. bought a baby grand piano for what is not the Vredenburgh Baptist Church. The piano is still used. In 1969 it was refinished by J.Y, McIntosh Jr., and Barney Crouch.
At the time the church was built it was used by Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, and Assembly of God members. There was a Union Sunday School using David C. Cook Publishing Company Literature. This literature was used till the church was reorganized in 1966.
The church building was used for a school until a building could be built across the street. The right and left wings were added to the building several years after the original building was built.
At a meting held March 17, 1912, presided over by Rev. G. N. Kimbrough, Vredenburgh Baptist Church was organized.
The minutes of that meeting read, That the Baptist People of Vredenburgh did then and there organize a Baptist Church termed the First Baptist Church of Vredenburgh.
There were twelve charter members:
Mr./Mrs. O.L. Landrum Mr./Mrs. C.C. Curry
Mr./Mrs. J.T. Stevens Mr./Mrs. T.J. Maroney
Mrs. S.L. Hall Mrs. J.B. Trawick
Dr. L.W. Chapman Mr. M.P. Bettis
The church elected O.L. Landrum and J.T. Stevens to serve as deacons. Dr. L.W. Chapman was named Treasurer and M.P. Bettis , Church Clerk.
The minutes of this first meeting further stated that Rev. G.N. Kimbrough was elected as pastor for a salary of $250.00 annually for two services per month conducted on the third Sunday of the month. The offerings taken at each service would be used to pay Rev. Kimbrough his salary and expenses when in Vredenburgh.
The minutes recorded August 18,1912 state that preparation for membership in the Pine Barren Association was the purpose of the meeting was the purpose of the meeting. Membership was granted when the Pine Barren Association’s annual meeting was held in Beatrice September 4, 1912.
The conference held December 15, 1912, established the serving of the Lord’s supper semi-annually in January an July. The meeting time was changed by request of Rev. Kimbrough to the first Sunday instead of the third Sunday that was established in the church organization.
The first “protracted meeting” was held October 26, through November 3, 1913. Four professions of faith were recorded. Baptismal services were performed at Concord Baptist Church in Buena Vista, Al.
On June 30, 1954, the Vredenburgh Family sold their holdings to International Paper Company Hollingsworth-Whitney (Scott Paper Company), and a group of investors who called themselves “The Wilmon Group.” In 1963 these corporations divided the properties and Wilmon Timberlands remains in Vredenburgh today.
In 1959 under the leadership of Rev. Robert E. (Mac) McCullough, the church went to a full time Baptist church. The other denominations had discontinued their services.
During the pastorate of Rev. Frank Schmidt (1960-1962) the church was given a house for the pastorium and the school building across the street. The school building was used for Sunday School rooms, fellowship, and youth activities.
The Saturday before Easter 1962 was a tragic one for Vredenburgh. The sawmill, operated by E.L. Bruce Cp. of Memphis, TN, burned and the owners would not replace it. The town was almost emptied as people moved away to find jobs. Frank Schmidt was pastor of the church. He left during the summer to go to another church.
Ben Jones of Columbus, GA rebuilt the sawmill and began operation in January ,1965. Several of the former residents moved back.
Sunday School continued under the leadership of Henry McIntosh. In 1966 Members of the church met in the home of Mr./Mrs. Clearance Fuller to discuss the possibility of renewing the worship service. It was voted to find a pastor for full-time services. The minutes of the church state that the church voted to call Gerald W. Kline as pastor. The vote was unanimous.
In 1968, Albert Huckaby became the pastor. He was there until 1971. He led the church to do many thigs and the congregation grew.
During 1969, Bathrooms were installed in the front halls, and pews were donated by individual families were added to the sanctuary. An extension was built on the back of the church to house five Sunday School rooms and a pastor’s study. Mr. Ben Jones donated the lumber and labor for this construction.
Also, during this hear the first Homecoming was set for March 16. Dinner was scheduled to be served outside, but rain prohibited this. Center pews were removed from the sanctuary and a table was set up on workhorses that extended from the church entrance to the altar. A record crowd of over 100 enjoyed this fellowship. The four-foot-wide table was filled to capacity with wonderful food brought by those attending.
The partition between the two rooms in the right wing of the church was removed and a fellowship hall was made. This took place in 1970.
New pulpit furniture and Remembrance Table were purchased in 1971.
The left wing of the church contains a library, storage closets, and a nursery.
Ben Jones (Longleaf Industries, Inc) sold the mill to Bendix Corporation in February 1976. He deeded the church property and the parsonage to Vredenburgh Baptist Church and dedication of this deed was held March 7, 1976. Rev. L. R. Brown was pastor. Dr. Billy Nutt came from the Alabama Baptist Convention to assist in this event.
Central air conditioning was installed in the educational wing in 1976. Central heat and air were installed in the sanctuary and fellowship hall in 1990, and heat strips were added in the system in the education wing.
The minutes recorded on January 10, 1982, state that the Lord’s Supper is to be served every fifth Sunday. This is still the practice of Vredenburgh Baptist Church.
On October 12, 1952, the church granted a license to preach to Cleveland Stabler. He is the pastor of Awin Baptist Church.
There were several periods in which no minute were recorded. It is assumed that business meetings were not always part of the church.
The church finances have been good and the minutes record a never ending generosity in the use of the abundance the Lord has provided.
Rev. Walter E. Sheffield has served as pastor since September 1983. He has turned in his resignation effective October 3, 1999. The church membership and activities have all been increased during his tenure as pastor.
Vredenburgh Baptist Church is still very active with 37 resident members. Sunday School, Discipleship Training, WMU, and Wednesday night prayer meeting are the services offered. There is a nursery provided for all services. Bible School has been very successful. ON fifth Sunday night a fellowship is enjoyed. Homecoming is an annual event on the last Sunday in September.
Addendum
There have been changes in the church since 1999. Three pastors have served. Randy Davis, Mitchell Murphy, and Gus Jones. Paul Kirchharr is now serving as interim.
In March 2006, a down draft wind destroyed the fellowship wing. Earnest Halbrook , George Pugh, Sam Bender, and Joanne M. McGraw were elected to the building committee. Work began in May to rebuild and was finished enough that Homecoming in September 2006 was held in it. Work was completed in October. This has been a real blessing to the church.
This year marks the 100th year for Vredenburgh Baptist Church. The only services are Sunday School and morning worship. We presently have 4 classes. We have an active WMU that meets once a month. Every Sumer we have Bible School.
Thanks to all who were involved in getting this document to me to share on this site. May God bless Vredenburgh Baptist to be as productive the next hundred years as the last one has been.
To all that read this post I hope you enjoyed learning about this beautiful old church that has withstood the test of time.
Located in the Red Hills of Northern Monroe County Al
Located in the Red Hills of Northern Monroe County Alabama, beside a remote red dirt road sits a crumbling old church. It has been a curiosity for many people for many years.
No one seems to be able to find out anything about this church. Many have asked on social media forums and other places. However for some reason nobody seems to have had any information on it. Nobody even seemed to know the proper name of it.
It has been dubbed names like Old Red Hills Church because it is in the Old Red Hills. Other places it has been called Locke Hill church because of the famous Locke Hill that is in the area of the old church. I am sure that there are other names attributed to it by various other people as well.This old church has been the subject of many photographs over the years of wanders who saw it and were enthralled with it. It is just sitting there.
Wooden Floors
Pastor’s Study
Being from Monroe County and a natural wander I have passed it many times over the years and I have asked many times if anybody knew anything about it. Always I came up with nothing.
In May of 2020 I shot a drone video of it and it drew attention from several people who started to aske more questions. Shortly afterwards I learned from a relative at Beatrice, Al. that there was a guy that came in his place of business that had actually attended church there.
Covid hit. Everything was locked down. Nobody was visiting. I put it all on a back burner and started pursuing other interests.
Two years later I finally got back on track on this old church and was able to find the guy who knew.
The following is the information he was able to share with me. The Proper name for the church to start with is Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church. The man’s name is Irving Long. Irving agreed to meet me at the old church and share with me memories of this old and for most of civilization forgotten church.
He said that originally the congregation had a church over beside the Red Hills Cemetery. This was long before he was born. The original church burned and the congregation moved over to the present location and built the existing church.
He said he was not totally sure of dates and records had been lost over the years but in September 1927 there was an incident where the Sherriff came to arrest a man and they got into a fight. There was another man at the church that tried to break the fight up and the Sheriff shot him and he died as a result of the gun shot. The man shot was named Will Riley. His wife’s name was Fannie. He went on to say that Will’s wife sewed the hole in Will’s shirt up with a needle and thread and they buried him in the same shirt.
Ladies Restroom
Inside from behind pulpit
He showed me the out house that still stands on the right hand side and laughed and said that was the ladies restroom. The men’s was on the other side.
He motioned over to the other side and said that one time there was another building there that served as a school and also a Masonic Lodge.
As we stood and talked he told me many things that resonated with me giving me a feeling of how it was back in the day.
He said that his father had told him that back in the hey days of the church that there was a community there as large as the town of Beatrice.
Pilgrim Rest at Church Time
One thing he shared was that for many years there was a revival there starting the 4th Sunday in September of every year. He went on to say that the crowds would be incredibly huge for the size of the building. People would come from all over and many from out of town that had moved away would return. There would even be folks that had moved up north to places like Chicago that would come back.
He laughed and said that his grand gather always called the place “The Holy Ghost Headquarters”.
We walked around to the back of the church and went in through a side door. As we walked in Irving shared that the back room we were in was where they always had food on that 4th Sunday. He said the food would be incredible. The women would stay at times up all night that Saturday night preparing food for the Sunday meal. There were long tables around the walls and then across the back outside there are still posts against the building that held another long table where people ate.
Fellowship hall where people ate.
Inside facing pulpit
There was a very small room on the side right behind the pulpit that was the pastor’s study.
Over to the side of the wall is nails in the wall that the men would hang their coats and hats on.
Standing on the platform where the pulpit facing the back Irving said the men sat on the right and the women sat on the left.
Then as we walked across the wooden floor. My guide stopped and smiled again. He said this old floor was incredible. Never heard anything like it in my life. All of the people would be singing and they would be tapping on the floor with their feet and the sound would be in time with the music.
As we went back outside and stood and I listed as he shared he told of how hard it was to have a church out there in the middle of nowhere in the latter days. Vandals and thieves were incredible. It got to a point that they could not keep anything. The stole the heaters out of the church and even the propane tank. He said that it got so bad that they had to take the heaters home after church and bring them back early the next time they were to have church early the morning of the service to keep them from being stolen. He did say that for some reason nobody ever took the bell. It was in one of the towers on the front of the church for many years. Now it has been taken out and placed in a safe undisclosed location.
Irving Long Standing in front
Inside auditorium.
The church used Flat Creek to do baptisms, and burials were in the cemetery at Red Hills Cemetery.
Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church held services till sometime in the early 1990’s.
During the 1970’s and 80’s the congregation got down to the point that that there would be 18 to 20 people in attendance and then it dwindled to nothing and they closed the doors.
The last pastor to preach at Pilgrim Rest was Rev. Jessie Andrews.
Some of the long time members were Woodrow Nettles, Amos Nobles, Charlie Johnson, Ollie Nettles, and Lorenzo Nettles.
As for the future. Irving says that slowly but surely he is cleaning up there and hopes to one day have something back on the property once again. Possibly a shed or something for people to gather from time to time and use the property for future generations.
I would like to personally thank Irving one more time for taking his time to meet me out in those woods and share with me about this grand old place that has been the focus of wonder for so many years by so many people.
The Old Scotland Presbyterian Church was built in 1837 according to the National Historic Registry.
The community of Old Scotland in Monroe County was settled by families from Georgia and the Carolinas among other areas, many of whose families were immigrants from Scotland and Ireland. Historians say that the Old Scotland community got its name because of the area’s close resemblance to the native country of those that settled there.
The Old Scotland Presbyterian Church was originally made of logs. That structure was replaced in 1837 by the wooden frame building is now standing.
As early as the 1920s, most of the residents had moved to Franklin, Monroeville, and other communities in the local area. Because of this fact the church to discontinued regular services.
At the time of this writing the 200th anniversary service will be held April 23, 2023.
The church’s cemetery has graves of several Civil War soldiers. This church is listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage.
The church is located approximately 2.25 miles from County Rd 42 (Ridge Road) not far from the community of Tunnel Springs Alabama. Coordinates 31.66772, -87.27354
The cemetery holds the graves of those with the last names of Mcmillan, Davison, Dennis, Dunn, English, Falkenberry, Fountain, Jackson, McCorvey, Nettles, Rumbley, Simmons, Smith, Stevens, and Wiggins.
A decaying reminder of the remnants of one of the last standing Alabama Black Church/ Schools in Monroe County Al. There were at one time three of these School/Churches located in North Monroe County Al. This one, One North of Vredenburgh which could have actually been in the very Southern edge of Wilcox County and one North of Buena vista on th road from Buena Vista to Chestnut. At the beginning of the School year 1966 a New Church/School was built on the South Side of Vredenburgh, Al and all three were combined into one school there.
I do not know the source of this photo. It appears to be taken in the 1940’s.
The beautiful old Philadelphia Baptist is located at the small community of Tunnel springs Alabama. A community located on Hwy 21 North of Peterman Al. Tunnel Springs is a small town that was located the L&N Railroad and has a railroad tunnel that is not far from the church. The town has pretty much dried up now there are some residents still there but no stores or postoffice are open any more.
Philadelphia Baptist Church
Philadelphia Baptist Church as founded in 1840. It was located at the site of what is now Antioch Baptist located on Co Rd 42 a few miles away closer to the community known as Pine Orchard.
Philadelphia started out with a congregation that consisted of both black and white people. Both races worshipped together and were buried in the same cemetery. This remained until 1870. At that time the congregation split and the black’s remained at what is not Antioch and the white people moved to what I the present site of Philadelphia Baptist Church.
The present building which contains two towers and a belfry was originally built for a whopping sum of $3,000. It was finished in the early 1900’s. Around 1913.
The first recorded pastor of the church when it was in the original location was the Rev. John McWilliams. He came to Monroe County from North Carolina in 1827. He remained pastor till 1870.
The building standing today is the original building. It has had several renovations with carpet flooring ect. being changed on the inside. Other than painting and the steps and entrance ways the outride is basically unchanged.
Below is a video of Mr Allen Ramer a long time member of Philadelphia Baptist Church telling about the rich history of this beautiful church.
I recently had the opportunity to visit Indian Springs Baptist Church in North Monroe County Al.
Indian Springs Baptist Church was built about 1825 near springs used by the local Indians. This original wood framed building has survived virtually unchanged with no modern conveniences.
Shiloh Primitive Baptist still stands today. Although there have been no regular services there since the 1980’s the rich tradition still lives on of years gone by in the hearts and minds of many who had loved ones of the past that were once part of that great Church. Listen closely as Mrs sims tells the story.
