Old Meansville Baptist
Pike County | Organized in 1885
Meansville is a small rural crossroads town located south of Zebulon, in Pike County. The little community was named after John Means, one of the early Pike County settlers. The church you see here was built in 1885 when a group of congregants from a church in Piedmont purchased the land from John Means Jr. for the sum of $20. She served the congregation well and the congregation prospered, but she was abandoned in the 1930's when the New Meansville Baptist Church was established in the town, a short distance away. She stood empty for several years until converted to a private residence in the 1940's. The old church is in the final stage of her life now, and will soon be Almost Gone But Not Forgotten.
Read more...The building you see here shows the conversion from church to residence, but you can clearly see the original 1885 structure reflecting the classic box construction style of a late 19th-century rural church. There are many of them across the state. She won't be standing too much longer, since the roof is beginning to get compromised, and total collapse will soon follow.
The old church cemetery is across the highway, surrounded by beautiful farmland. There are just over 100 interments in the cemetery with graves dating back to the 1890s as well as a few fairly recent ones. There are also many CSA veterans buried there to remind us of the terrible disaster of the Civil War that swept through this part of Georgia 150 years ago. We also have to keep in mind that these are the final resting places of those who survived the conflict. There were many others that did not and were buried where they fell. These old rural cemeteries are full of them, and almost all had the rank of Private - another reminder that the conflict was a rich man's war and a poor man's fight. After the war, the survivors returned to their church homes and returned to farming.
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4 responses to “Old Meansville Baptist”
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Rev. Clifford Walker was a pastor at Meansville Baptist Church from 1932-35 before God called him to preach at First Baptist Church Chipley, Florida from February 1938 until May 1943.
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Appreciate the nod to the history of our congregation and our original meeting place from Tony and all of you at HRCofG. Our congregation has actually been in our present location since 1921. We had a temporary building at that time that looked much like a barn and was called a “tabernacle” with sawdust floors. Our beautiful (also historic) present building was built from all donated time and materials in the height of the Depression. It was finished in 1935. I’ve seen many expressions of concern that this building was not preserved, but it was purchased to be a private residence (not abandoned) 100 years ago and has been out of our hands since. I love history like anyone else ( I am in a Historical Theology doctoral program and my favorites are the Reformation, Puritan, and Modern Missions movement eras), but the reality is: buildings will crumble, but the Kingdom of God will last forever. I hope you know Jesus, the builder of the Church and are one of the living stones that he is building together. Thankfully, we are still on task with the same identity and mission as the original congregation in 1885: “On August 18, 1885, a small group of Christians, being called of God out of nature’s darkness into the marvelous light of His blessed Word, having been regenerated and given to the Lord; baptized by immersion upon a profession of faith in Christ Jesus; believing it to be the duty of Christians to let their light shine before men, organized the Meansville Baptist Church.” There’s more on our congregation here: https://www.meansvillebaptistchurch.com/
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ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL
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Its a shame to lose a fine old church. With the church gone the cemetery will be forgotten too.
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