Maury Co., Tennessee

Research Room

Churches

 

 

Zion Presbyterian Church was organized in 1807 by members who emigrated from the Bethel congregation in Williamstown District, SC (See Maury County Books). Earlier these members and their predecessors had emigrated from Scotland to the Belfast area of County Down, Ireland, and from there to America in 1730. Some families first located in Lancaster District, PA and later reunited with the others to help develop Williamsburg. Many of them were lineal descendants of John Knox.
 
In Zion Church Cemetery are buried, along with many of these early immigrants, ten Revolutionary soldiers, three 1812 soldiers and 109 who served in the Civil War. (Source for this information is Turner's History of Maury County, Tennessee).Zion Church is located at: 2322 Zion Road, Columbia, TN 38401. Telephone: (931) 381-1272.

First Methodist Church was organized in 1807. After several early buildings were destroyed, the present church was erected in 1874-76 at: 222 West 7th St., Columbia, TN 38401. Telephone: (931) 388-3306.

First Presbyterian Church was organized in Columbia about 1822. After several of the early church sites were destroyed by fire, the present church building was erected in 1916 at the corner of West 7th and South High Streets. The first Presbytery embraced Maury, Marshall and Lincoln Counties and had under its care 25 churches. Telephone: (931) 388-1985.

St. John's Church (Episcopal) was built in 1839 on six acres of land donated by Leonidas Polk. With its ivy-covered tower and surrounded by a grove of trees, it is no wonder that Confederate General Patrick Cleburne remarked while passing by in 1864, "It is almost worth dying for to be buried in such a beautiful spot." Only a few days later, he died at the Battle of Franklin and was interred at St. John's, along with Generals Strahl and Granbury. (Their bodies were later disinterred and removed to burial sites nearer their homes).
 

The last regular Rector, Rev. Richard Newell, died in 1889. The church is in the care of the St. John's Memorial Association, which conducts an annual pilgrimage. St. John's in located on the Mt. Pleasant Pike, adjacent to Polk Memorial Cemetery.

West 7th St. Church of Christ was established in 1848. After several moves, the present building was completed on November 29, 1925. The Church of Christ movement in Maury County began as early as 1822 at Isom, on Cathey's Creek. Congregations were active by the 1830's and 1840's at Lasea, Berea on Bear Creek, Columbia by 1840 and Williamsport in 1851. West 7th St. Church of Christ is located at 405 West 7th St., Columbia, TN 38401. Telephone: (931) 388-6514.

First Baptist Church was organized in the Maury County Courthouse in 1856 as the Columbia Baptist Church. After meeting in several locations, including a frame church which was located on the present site in 1876. The present building was erected in 1886, with an addition being added in 1924. First Baptist Church is located at: 812 South High St., Columbia, TN 38401. Telephone: (931) 388-2655.

Two of the oldest remaining churches founded by African-Americans are: Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist, which was constructed in 1840, located at 218 East 8th St., Columbia, TN 38401 (Telephone: 931-388-8744); and Mt. Calvary Missionary Baptist, located at the corner of East 8th and Bridge Street, Columbia, TN. Telephone: (931) 381-1551.

St. Catherine's Catholic Church was erected in 1953, but Catholic history in Maury County began in 1821, with the first Catholic Church being built in 1867. St. Catherine's is now located at: 3019 Cayce Lane, Columbia, TN 388-3803.

 

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