The sweet little church you see above is located on a dirt road in far south Georgia close to the Florida line, where the Flint and Chattahoochee Rivers converge to form the Apalachicola. The location of the church is close to what is left of Recovery Georgia near the historic site of Camp Recovery. This extreme location in the SW corner of Georgia has a lot of history that goes back to the very early 19th century. This early history is filled with Indian conflicts, death and disease. From a 2017 newspaper article in the Post Searchlight, we are told that Moses Chapel was organized in 1836 when three small churches in the same area came together to form Moses Chapel. Beyond that, we can find no more history and we are hopeful that some will emerge as a result of this work. The structure is very old and we are afraid that she won’t be with us much longer. Although simple, you can feel the love and respect that these early Georgia settlers had for their churches and schools which were always the very heart of the community. These images are a powerful reminder of life in the Georgia backcountry in the 19th century.
This small and humble church has had very little of its history recorded and until recently, we weren’t certain of the story here. But Terry Green, a descendant of the church’s founders graciously shared part of the story with us. “Moses Chapel was a Black Methodist and Baptist Church. It was a refuge for some former slaves to worship God. I remember having a conversation with my 2x great uncle, Alfred Green, who was born in Decatur Georgia in 1906 and died in 1999 at the age of 93 years old. I recall visiting my very active uncle Alfred one time, I was sitting at the foot of his bed one morning asking him questions about our family history. I was shocked by what he remembered- dates, years, names…he even remembered the age of 3 or 4 years old sitting on his grandfather’s knee, Issac Hall, who was a slave around 1859. Later in life, my uncle purchased 26 acres of land to grow big black juicy grapes and he donated 1 acre of land to Moses Chapel where he was a deacon of the church.
Moses Chapel building started getting old so the members of the church decided to build another Moses Chapel right next door they’re two church buildings on that lot. My family still owns both sides of the dirt road that runs in front of the new and old church. I haven’t been there in years and now I’m sure the snakes and grape orchards have turned back to woods. While I was there for my uncle’s funeral, someone said to go take a look inside the old church, as I looked inside Moses Chapel seeing the old dusty bench rows and furniture I could still feel a spirit in that church. “
We believe that this exterior view is of the south side and apse area (light colored siding). The undergrowth obscures the foundation area but the deteriorated siding, collapsing window frames and general disrepair are proof that Moses Chapel is in dire, physical straits. We believe that it is in danger of collapsing soon. The presence of the tin roof is a positive. Though clearly beginning to rust out, it appears to be, at least on this side, keeping the rain out of the interior and that should slow the deterioration progress.
This southside exterior view shows the bell tower and its siding and the still effective heart pine sheathing. But, it also reveals that the north side tin roof appears to have lost a number of panels. This north side deterioration is common given the fact that most of the storms and bad weather in this area come out of the north/northwest.
Here we are looking at the northside, rear of the church (main building on right and collapsing apse on the left). Much damage is clearly visible at the apse where a tree has at one time fallen on the roof crushing that building. Worthy of note is the log holding up the north side of the Chapel. Instead of using some field stones as framing piers, the hard as iron, insect resistant, ubiquitous long leaf pine trunk is used!
The interior of the Chapel has pretty much been cleaned out. Here we see on the left an old rickety table in front of one remaining old pews. We also can see how much damage was caused by the tree that fell on the apse. The south wall is also leaning dangerously inward. On the other hand, the floors, walls and ceiling sheathed with four-inch, long leaf pine boards appear to be remarkably sound.
This is a closeup of the front door. The door and its framing show signs of rot and are clearly in disrepair. However, as we have seen elsewhere, the pine wood used to construct this door frame and the exterior siding of the church remains effective. How many years of no maintenance has this old chapel sustained? How many more years does it have to go before collapse?
This is an interior closeup of the south wall of the sanctuary. The bench sits in front of a broken window which is allowing some serious water damage to occur. It also faces the leaking and collapsed stove flue where rain water has been obtrusive. Remarkably, the battered old tin roof has remained relatively watertight in spite of its age.
Here we see the collapsing brick chimney that is a primary source of the rainwater damage we just saw and discussed in the last photo. This is a very old (150 years?) brick chimney and is certain to fail soon.
Here is a more detailed view of the collapsing apse and north wall we saw earlier. Though battered and old, the wood log foundation pillars remain effective. They don’t make pine trees like these anymore.
This wooden pier has probably survived for over well over a hundred years though resting in the sandy dirt of Decatur County. It still looks like new!
Finally, here is a wooden pier standing upright. It is a pleasure to be able to find, see, document and properly enjoy this old-timey construction feat!
We found this photo of Moses Chapel taken by Paul Kwilecki in 1982 in a Duke University archive. When compared to the following photo, the chapel has held up pretty well given the time lapse of almost forty years.
Finding and documenting a church such as Moses Chapel is a delight for us, and we hope for you as well. Of course, in days to come, we hope we will be able to uncover the rich history that rests here so we can document and share the personal experiences of the pioneers that settled this remarkable and historic area…..stay tuned.
ORGANIZED
1836
LOCATED IN
Almost Gone But Not Forgottem
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Wow, my name is Terry L. Green 2X great nephew of the late Mr. Alfred Green son of X slaves who donated that land to Moses Chapel, my late uncle born in 1906 also purchased all the land surrounding Moses Chapel. I believe my father Moses Green got his name from this Church. My uncle Alfred Green’ s funeral was at the church right next door named Moses Chapel also. Thank you Terry L. Green I would like to share the history of Moses Chapel with you.
Decatur County was hit hard by Hurricane Michael in October 2018. The hurricane was still a category 3 hurricane when it hit this area. The southern wall could have been damaged by the storm. As there are no dates shown for the photos, it’s hard to tell if this might be the case. If this damage was before the storm, unfortunately the structure may not be standing anymore.
The photos are recent. It does look like the back of the church received a good blow from either a tree or a large limb, likely as a result of the hurricane. She is still standing but won’t be for very long.
There are many old places of worship along the Flint River Road and in Worth County that have not been shown. I hope you will get to them. They are all very very old.
Thanks Pat. Would love to see a photo of some of them to see if they might meet the criteria.
I did a painting of this old church maybe 20 or so years back. If anyone is interested in seeing it, I”ll be glad to share it. The old church was one we just rambled upon during our back road drives. My late hubby & I traveled around just taking photos of places for me to paint. Since his death I have missed doing that.
Helen, if you can share it via email we can post it on our Facebook page for folks to see.
Wow, my name is Terry L. Green 2X great nephew of Mr. Alfred Green who donated that land to Moses Chapel, my late uncle born in 1906 also purchased all the land surrounding Moses Chapel. I believe my father Moses Green got his name from this Church. My uncle Alfred Green’ s funeral was at the church right next door named Moses Chapel also. Phone # 657 203 8890 Thank you Terry L. Green
Wow, my name is Terry L. Green 2X great nephew of Mr. Alfred Green who donated that land to Moses Chapel, my late uncle born in 1906 also purchased all the land surrounding Moses Chapel. I believe my father Moses Green got his name from this Church. My uncle Alfred Green’ s funeral was at the church right next door named Moses Chapel also. Phone Thank you Terry L. Green
So glad you could photograph it before it is gone.