New Hope Baptist Church

Side A: The New Hope Baptist Church was organized around 1860, burned in 1863, and was rebuilt in the fall of 1864. Once called the Harris Colored Baptist Church, the edifice’s name “New Hope” was chosen because it represented the hope of people struggling for a new beginning and a place to worship God. The church’s graveyard is the burial place of members of the United States Colored Troops, veterans of the Civil War. The war itself also came to the Harrisburg area. Units of Confederate general John Hunt Morgan’s infamous raiders rode through northern Gallia County on July 18, 1863, taking for themselves horses, food, and valuables. In pursuit, Union forces confiscated horses, hay, and other goods from area residents, including those of two men from Harrisburg. Side B: Same