Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Front: This church, founded in 1869, was organized by 36 black members of nearby Black Creek Baptist Church, who received letters of dismissal to form their own congregation. Rev. William Hart, its first minister, served until his death in 1872. He was succeeded by his son, Rev. Alfred Hart, who served here 1872-79, after representing Darlington County in the S.C. House 1870-72. Reverse: The church held its first services in a brush arbor on this site, which its trustees bought from James C. McCallman in 1872. After worshipping under a frame shelter for several years, Mt. Zion built its first permanent sanctuary, a frame building, in 1890. The congregation grew enough to build a second frame church in 1908. The present brick sanctuary was dedicated in 1979.