Providence Baptist Church

Front: Providence Baptist Church was established by enslaved and free people of African descent in the town of Hamburg. After the Civil War Hamburg became a center of African American political power in Aiken County. In 1868 three members of the Providence Congregation, John Gardner, Prince Rivers, and Samuel Lee, won election to the S.C. legislature. All three would rise to greater political prominence during the era of Reconstruction. Reverse: In 1929 a massive flood inundated Hamburg and forced residents to move to higher ground. The town never recovered. Many residents salvaged material to rebuild their homes. Providence Baptist Church was similarly dismantled and rebuilt atop the 75 foot bluff behind the old town. The new settlement was officially named Carrsville, but sometimes referred to locally as “New Hamburg.”