Zion Baptist Church

Zion Baptist Church is home to one of the oldest African American congregations in Westmoreland County. Before slavery ended, according to local tradition, services were first held under a dogwood bush arbor on Gawen's Farm, near Tucker Hill, approximately one and a half miles north of here. The members had most likely worshiped at the nearby white Machodoc (Sandy Valley) Baptist Church. Zion Baptist Church was formally organized in 1867, when the congregation constructed a log building. During the latter half of the 1800s, a fire and expanding membership required the construction of two other buildings. The present church was erected in 1932.