On Wayne Street - 1902 and 1910
1910 Postcard, church
built 1887-1888, was on N. Wayne St. and church built 1952 at current
location S. Liberty St.
First Baptist Church
Milledgeville, Ga.
Originally
called Mount Zion Baptist Church, formed in 1806, it took the name of Milledgeville
Baptist Church in 1834 when it withdrew from the Ocmulgee Association and
entered the Central Association. James Barrow was one of the principal
founders.
Although
assigned a building lot on the south public square, the first location
of the church was on the North Commons at the intersection of Montgomery
and Liberty. This church, as well as the Presbyterian, Episcopal and
Methodist churches was built on State House Square by an act of the General
Assembly approved December 6, 1822, which authorized all Christian denominations
to build upon the State house square houses of worship on half acre lots.
These churches were located on Greene St. facing North. See
Statehouse pictures and 1830 Map of Milledgeville.
The second location was the North gate Capitol Square by 1830, and
it burned in December 1885. The foundation for the new church was
laid in March 1887 and completed in 1888. It was located on North
Wayne Street, north of Masonic Hall. On December 7, 1952
the church with a membership of 1,200 moved into its present location on
South Liberty St. across from Memory Hill Cemetery.
Some early pastors:
Edmund Shackleford, Adiel Sherwood, Iverson L. Brooks, C.S. Mallary 1834-1836,
S.G. Hilyer 1838-1844, John Francis Dagg 1847-1850, William Clay Wilkes
1850,S.G. Daniel 1850-1855, Napoleon Alexander Baily after 1865, Edward
Butler 1868-1877, A.J. Beck 1878 - 1885, J.D. Chapman 1887 - 1894, John
A. Wray, Lamar Sims, J.F.Singleton 1911, Harold Major, J. C. Wilkinson
Eileen Babb McAdams copyright 2002