Chubb Chapel United Methodist Church

Floyd County
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Org 1870
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Photography by Tom Reed

The beautiful sanctuary you see above was built in 1870 and is one of the oldest African American churches in rural Georgia. The Gothic Revival style church is unique in its architecture as well as its history. The church is located in a southeastern part of Floyd County in the historic community of Chubbtown, established by the Chubb family, a free black family that migrated there in the early 1860s. The church sits on one acre of land deeded by Henry Chubb and his brothers on August 8, 1870, to the Trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church for $200. The church is the only surviving structure of the original town and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990. The history of Chubb Chapel United Methodist Church and, in fact, Chubbtown itself, should be seen within the context of the Chubb family history, dating back to at least 1775 according to the National Register.

Isaac Chubb, born about 1797 in North Carolina, appeared as a free black in the 1830 Census of Caswell County, North Carolina, and shortly thereafter migrated to north Georgia sometime before 1833 when his first child is recorded as having been born in Georgia. The 1850 census indicates that the Isaac Chubb family was domiciled in Morgan County, Georgia. At some time in the early 1860s, the family migrated to Floyd County before the Civil War. Isaac Chubb and his eight sons and two daughters (William, Henry, Anna, John, Thomas, Jane, Jacob, Isaac, Jr., Nicholas, and George) thus arrived in Floyd County and ultimately established Chubbtown.

The Chubb brothers began purchasing real estate during the war and in the post-reconstruction period. In time, these holdings became a self-sufficient community known as Chubbtown, providing goods and services to white and black residents of the surrounding areas. The community, serviced by its own post office, was composed of a general store, blacksmith shop, grist mill, distillery, syrup mill, saw mill, wagon company, cotton gin, and a casket factory. The Chubb brothers were very industrious and in the 1870 census, the brothers were listed as blacksmiths, wagon makers, house carpenters, sawmill operators, and farmers.

Some Chubb family members still live in the community as well as nearby Cave Spring, Cedartown, and Rome. Others have migrated to places across the United States. Today, Chubb descendants have served in a number of fields including ministry, education, law, medicine, insurance, construction, corporate, and the service industries. Among their most noted members are Nick and Bradley Chubb, who played for the University of Georgia and NC State football teams, respectively, before going on to play in the NFL. The Chubb family is a significant part of Georgia’s history. The church is alive and well and continues strong after almost 150 years. We are all indebted to them for their loving stewardship of one of Georgia’s most historic treasures.

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