The little town of Irwinton has endured more than its share of fire. Its courthouse burned in 1828, then again in 1854—along with both the Baptist and Methodist churches—and yet again when Sherman’s troops came through in November 1864 during the March to the Sea. Incredibly, the courthouse burned once more in 1924. Out of the ashes of the 1854 fire came a new idea: build one common church that could serve Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists alike.

Incorporated by the Georgia General Assembly that same year, the “Irwinton Free Church”—now Union Church—was built on land donated by William O. Beall and completed in 1856. The building schedule was carefully laid out by law: Methodists had use of the church the first and third weeks, Presbyterians the second, and Missionary Baptists the fourth. The act declared these rights “perpetual and inviolable,” unless all trustees and denominations agreed otherwise.

Though the town was heavily damaged by Sherman’s troops in 1864, the church was spared. Wilkinson County itself had been reluctant to secede, but once war came, she sent many men to fight—and suffer. Records show that 34% of the 685 soldiers in the Wilkinson County regiment died in the war.

One survivor, John W. Lindsey, later Georgia’s Pension Commissioner, recalled being home on furlough when Sherman’s cavalry galloped down the Ridge Road. Lindsey and a few disabled comrades were fired upon as they scouted the advancing Union troops. Hours later, he watched from a hill near Red Level Church as Irwinton went up in flames.

Union Church endured through it all, becoming a symbol of survival for those who returned home to rebuild their lives in a devastated land. Like many rural sanctuaries across Georgia, it was more than a house of worship—it was a place of comfort, community, and renewal.