Mt. Zion Presbyterian
Hancock County | Organized in 1813
Mt. Zion was founded as a Presbyterian church in 1813 and later sold to the Methodists in 1903, who worshiped there until 1958. The Greek Revival structure, built in 1814, still commands attention from its high perch overlooking the countryside. With its double doors, unique double-aisle pew layout, and four towering columns, it remains one of Georgia’s most striking early churches.
Read more...The community of Mt. Zion itself once held remarkable importance as an educational center. Rev. Nathan Beman, who arrived from Maine in 1812, became both pastor of the church and headmaster of the academy established there. In just a few years, Mt. Zion grew into one of Georgia’s most celebrated institutions of learning. At its height, the settlement included a two-story schoolhouse, numerous homes, and supporting buildings. Its reputation was so strong that Mt. Zion was once considered as a possible location for the University of Georgia before Athens was ultimately chosen.
The current sanctuary is the original 1814 structure—an unusual fact, as most rural churches of that era began as brush arbors or log buildings before progressing to framed sanctuaries. The early investment in a permanent brick-and-frame church reflects the vision of wealthy planters who saw Mt. Zion as both a place of worship and an academic hub. Over the decades, its influence extended far beyond Hancock County. Among those associated with the community was William J. Northern, who later became governor of Georgia in 1890.
Following the Civil War, membership declined, and by 1903, the building was sold to a Methodist congregation for $200. They worshiped there until 1958, after which the property eventually passed to the Hancock County Historical Trust. Today, the building is carefully maintained and open to respectful visitors. More than two centuries after its founding, Mt. Zion continues to stand as a powerful reminder of the intertwined histories of faith, education, and community life in Georgia’s backcountry.
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16 responses to “Mt. Zion Presbyterian”
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I first visited Mt.Zion while working on my master’s at Georgia College in Milledgeville. We were taking a history class and our instructors took us there. The cemetery was extremely overgrown but I was able to read the grave marker of Electra Strong Storrs who was governess for the girls at Mt. Zion Academy. She died less than a year after arriving. I have returned several times to the cemetery and am so very thankful that it has been cleaned up.
I became interested in learning more about Electra Storrs and have found out her father, Col. Seth Storrs, graduated from Yale and was a founding member of Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont. It is still a thriving college. I also learned from reading from the Storrs family history that Electra was a beautiful young woman and died one month before her marriage. She died at the home of Rev. Beman. I’ve often wondered how she died. The last time I was at Mt. Zion around Feb. of this year, my husband and I noticed her tombstone is starting to lean forward.
Also, someone posted about the book Tokens of Affections which are letters from Maria Bryan Connell(also buried at Mt. Zion) to her sister Julia. I was able to get this book from Amazon and enjoyed reading it.
There is also an interesting book on Rev. Beman’s life, A Divine Discontent, which gives one an interesting reading on him. I believe after he left Mt. Zion Academy his brother became head master at the school. -
Do you offer group tours of churches. I would be interested in attending one, if possible, and if south of Atlanta. My great grandfather was the minister of Pearson’s Chapel in Altamaha (near Reidsville) in 1895-1896 which you have included in your list of churches.
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Hello Lynn…we don’t offer tours, but Georgia Tourism offers a tour semi-annually called Pews & Pulpits. They have one coming up in April. You can find more information about it here: http://www.historicpewsandpulpits.com/
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Do you have map details on all of the Churches you present in your book?
I frequently travel up the east side of GA on backroads. I think a map detail would make it easy for your explorers to find the location of your churches. Although your printed version of the Historic Rural Churches is complete, the digital notes would be beneficial.
Thank you.-
https://www.hrcga.org/plan-a-trip/ John, go to this link on the website and you will find all the churches embedded in a Google map. We think that will give you what you need. Good luck.
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I studied this dead town, Mt Zion, for my masters thesis at GCSU backnin the mid-1990s and spent many days reading these gravestones and learning about the people who lived herenin the early 19th Century. In fact, I’d like to be buried one day at Mt Zion Cemetery, though I’m not sure it is still operating. Beautiful place, exactly 7 miles north of the rebuilt courthouse in Sparta on GA 15.
If you walk down in the woods to the west (left) of the church, you can see bricks that supported the once thriving academy in Mt Zion, run by both Nathan and later Carlisle Beman.
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Interesting Jay. We always wondered exactly where it was.
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We are kin to Nathan and Carlisle Beman and it was good to see you mention their names.
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This has been one of my favorite structures found on my church hunting expeditions. I also love that it’s the original. Hard to find that nowadays. Either they’ve been modernized, or they’re gone completely. I love this one!
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To learn more about this church get a book TOKENS of AFFECTIONS, The Letters of a Planter’s Daughter in the South. edited by Carol Bleser. This gives a day by day happenings of life in this community in the early 1800’s
The writer’s grave is only a few steps from the church.
I got my copy from Amazon books.-
Wow. Great find here Bob.
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A great book
I met Carol when I was researching Mount Zion back in the 1990s. I spent a lot of time researching the Bryan family at the South Caroliniana Library in Columbia, too, as she did.
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Beautiful, stately and simplistic. Much like the LaFayette Presbyterian Church in LaFayette, AL that is now used for a library.
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Beautiful church. My 3rd great grandfather, Peyton Lundy is believed to be buried there, but most of the graves aren’t properly marked. It is hallowed ground nonetheless.
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Yes it is. Plenty of unmarked graves in these old cemeteries.
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Olin, was Lundy creek named after your family by chance?
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