Pee Dee Union Baptist Church

Front: This church, formally organized in 1867, had its origins in Cheraw Baptist Church, founded in 1837. Shortly after the Civil War 285 black members there received permission to organize a separate church. Rev. Wisdom London, the first pastor here, preached from a platform erected on this site until a new sanctuary was built. The first church here, a frame building, was destroyed by a tornado in 1912. Reverse: The present brick church, replacing the original one destroyed by the tornado, was built in 1912 during the pastorate of Rev. Isaiah Williams. Three ministers have served Pee Dee Union Baptist Church for twenty years or more: Rev. F.W. Prince, who served here from 1915 to 1940; Rev. J.C. Levy, who served here from 1953 to 1974; and Rev. Thomas Dawkins, who served here from 1974 to 1999.