Phillips Mills Baptist Church

Phillips Mills Baptist Church is a Georgia historical marker in Wilkes County, dedicated 1958.

Located at the intersection of Greensboro Road (Georgia Route 44) and Rocker Road (County Route 50) near Washington.

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On June 10th, 1785, 16 members met in a mill on this site owned by Joel Phillips, a Revolutionary soldier, and organized Phillips Mills Baptist Church. The Rev. Silas Mercer, leader of the group, became the first pastor of the church, and served in that capacity for 11 years. His son, Jesse Mercer, was received into the church on July 7, 1787, at the age of eighteen. Later he was ordained to the ministry in the old church, and followed his father as its pastor, serving this church for thirty-seven years. The present edifice is the second to be built on the site, which was donated to the church by Joel Phillips. Since its organization, many important conferences have been held in Phillips Mills Church, and young men whose names are now famous in the ministry have preached their first sermons here.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

Historical maps covering this location

1794 · Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1795 · State of South Carolina. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1816 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1816 · Georgia (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1824 · Georgia. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, 1794, covering the location of Phillips Mills Baptist Church, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, 1794, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

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This historical marker is part of the Georgia Historical Marker Program and was erected by the Georgia Historical Commission. Marker texts and locations come from the Society's own marker database.

Phillips Mills Baptist Church

Historical maps covering this location

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