Historic Rural Churches of Georgia

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Historic Rural Churches of Georgia

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Join us as we travel through Georgia exploring the state's Historic Rural Churches! Be sure to go to www.hrcga.org to see all the churches we have visited!

Here at Historic Rural Churches of Georgia, we have put together a diverse team from all across the state of Georgia with a mission to research, document and ultimately preserve historic rural churches across the state. Take the journey with us as we travel across Georgia with new postings every week. How can you help, you ask? By sharing and liking our posts, by telling your friends and family, and by visiting these wonderful churches. Please be sure to subscribe to our email newsletter [>> http://bit.ly/2CAynGG

10/29/2026

✨This beautiful view is from the cemetery at Old Bethel Church in Bulloch County, which was organized in 1882 by Elder Washington Hodges.

Records show at least 240 burials here, although there are likely more buried in unmarked graves.

You can find more information about the graveyard at Old Bethel Church in the comments below.

📸 Photo courtesy of Bryan Stovall.

10/29/2026

✨ Tucked in the woods near this church is a spring-fed baptismal pool where generations of Georgians were baptized.

Academy Baptist in Jackson County was organized in 1810, making it the fourth-oldest Baptist congregation in the county. Pioneer settler Jared Cunningham led the founding, and the site was chosen for its natural springs.

The current sanctuary was completed in 1874, and the congregation has since restored that old baptismal pool as a symbol of its more than 200 years of history.

👇 Find the full story in the comments!

📸 Photography courtesy of Tom Reed

10/28/2026

✨Almost Gone But Not Forgotten ✨

On a quiet dirt road in Schley County, Georgia, a one-room, weathered church still stands, but barely, holding onto nearly two centuries of stories. It’s unclear how much longer it will survive, which makes the chance to tell its story all the more meaningful.

Phillippi Primitive Baptist Church was founded in 1835, and until the 1970s, its doors opened to a congregation in rural Georgia. Through its surviving church documents and minutes, we catch a glimpse of what life was like in a world shaped by strict discipline, deep faith, and the traditions of the Primitive Baptist Church.

Today, the building sits abandoned, its congregation long gone, but its story won't be forgotten.

👇🏼You can read the full story of Phillippi Primitive Baptist Church below.

📸 Photos courtesy of Steve Robinson

10/28/2026

✨ When fire destroyed Salem Baptist Church in 1906, only the communion silver and the church records survived, because members stored them at home. With help from neighbors, the congregation rebuilt quickly and was worshiping in the new church by February 1907.

📍 Salem Baptist Church | Lincoln County, Georgia | Organized in 1827
👇🏼 You can find the full story of Salem Baptist Church in the comments!
📸 Photography courtesy of John Kirkland

10/27/2026

✨From this perspective, you get a good sense of how large the graveyard at Lake Primitive Baptist Church in Candler County is. It's one of the largest rural burial grounds that we've seen, and records show that it serves Lake Primitive Baptist, as well as five other churches from rural communities nearby.

Organized in 1823, this structure that still stands there today was dedicated in 1839.

You can find more photos of this church in the comments below.

📸Photo courtesy of Bryan Stovall

10/27/2026

✨ Brooks County, Georgia- this one’s for you!

Three of Brooks County’s oldest churches are featured in our books: Liberty Baptist and Bethlehem Primitive Baptist in Volume I, and Grooverville Methodist in Volume II.

Each holds the story of the families who founded it, worshipped in it, and rest in the cemetery beside it. We’re grateful we had the chance to record those stories while we still could.

Sadly, one of these churches is no longer standing. Bethlehem Primitive Baptist was badly damaged by Hurricane Helene in 2024 and has since been demolished. The building is gone, but its story lives on in the pages of Volume I.

Both books are linked in the comments below!

📸 Photography courtesy of Steve Robinson

10/26/2026

✨ This church's first pastor was a Loyalist, the only Baptist minister in Georgia to side with the British during the Revolution.

Big Buckhead Baptist in Jenkins County was organized in 1774, making it the third-oldest Baptist church in Georgia.

The present Greek Revival sanctuary, built in 1855, is the fourth on the site and is a surprisingly intact example of rural architecture from this period.

👇 You can find the full history and more photos in the comments below.

📸 Thanks to John Kirkland for the photography.

10/24/2026

✨ After windstorms knocked down their unfinished church twice, the Abbeville Methodist Church congregation (organized in 1875) decided God didn't like the location. So they took the hint, held services in the courthouse, and finished a new church on a different site in 1892.

The result is a red brick, Gothic-style sanctuary with handcrafted rafters, beams, and pews. In the early days, the preacher rode in on horseback from Pineview, and one finished the trip on foot after his horse dropped dead along the way.

👇 Find the full story in the comments!

📸 Photography courtesy of Tony Cantrell

10/23/2026

✨ Pleasant Grove Methodist in Haralson County was founded in 1854, and the first church was a log building with a school beside it. The present sanctuary was built in 1894.

👇 You can see more photos of the church below.

📸Images courtesy of Andy Sarge

10/22/2026

✨ This church was organized before George Washington became president.

Bark Camp Baptist in Burke County was founded in 1788 and is one of the oldest churches in Georgia's backcountry. Four houses of worship have stood on this site, starting with a log structure. The current sanctuary was built in 1847 for $1,700, and the cemetery holds Revolutionary War and Civil War veterans. Sherman's raiders even paid a visit in December 1864.

👇 You can read the full fascinating story of Bark Camp Baptist in the comments.

📸 Photography courtesy of John Kirkland

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Crawfordville, GA
30631

Website

http://www.hrcga.org/

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