Anchors of Faith. Martha Dickson

I was born in Alabama and have lived most of my adult life in the Panhandle of Florida. As I grow older, I have become emotionally attached to the rural Deep South; its culture is so tenuous as rural areas empty out and cities fill up. For me, old wooden churches embody the will of those who built them and the faith of those who have worshiped in them for many decades. Once they were the centers of community life, but it seems that in today’s fast-paced world, the way of life these churches represent is endangered. Consequently, for two full years, 2008 and 2009, I traveled the back roads of the Deep South to document wooden churches, primarily old rural ones. On two- and three-day trips, covering thousands of miles, I searched for anchors of faith. I took four or five photographs of more than 450 church buildings, and selected 145 for inclusion in this book. My selection is meant to give a representative view of denominations and a degree of balance among the three states. The entire collection of early wooden church photographs is housed in the Wiregrass Archives at the Troy University Dothan Campus in Dothan, Alabama.

This endeavor was not haphazard; rather my excursions were based on research: in denominational listings, in the National Register of Historic Places, in state historical commission records, and in the records of the Historic Chattahoochee Commission. A few churches had written histories, some of which were online; others had very little information at all. I found that personal contacts with older members of congregations often revealed the most interesting information. For consistency, I have limited the comments on the individual churches to a standard format. I supplemented information on individual churches with research on denominations and on architecture; the sources of this information are listed in the bibliography. This information appears in the introduction and, briefly, in the comments on individual churches.

Anchors of Faith is a work of love. My hope is that those with active congregations will thrive and that those that are now redundant will be reborn. I also hope that you the reader will appreciate these physical reminders of the faith of our fathers and that you will find a place in your heart for these anchors of faith.

I would like to acknowledge Dr. Martin T. Olliff, director, Wiregrass Archives, and associate professor of history, Troy University Dothan Campus, and Dr. Mike Holmes, former assistant professor of history, Troy University Dothan Campus for reading the material, making suggestions, and being invaluable guides on history and architecture. Dr. Olliff and Dr. Holmes helped with architectural details for some of the entries, as well as providing information on black churches. Mrs. Rosemary Hale of Pensacola, Florida, provided invaluable help with the photographs. The book would have been impossible without the help of denominational associations, local ministers, and many, many gracious people who love their home churches. Jeff Benton of NewSouth Books provided invaluable editorial assistance.

Introduction

Words of poet Amy Lowell spring to mind when first sighting these wooden churches of a past century: “The sight of a white church above thin trees in a city square/Amazes my eyes as though it were the Parthenon.”

Finding abundant forests of pine, oak, and cypress—choice timber for building —and endowed with strong faith and purpose, early nineteenth century settlers who poured into Southern territory wrested from Indian ownership soon erected places for communal worship. First came brush arbors, crude structures usually featuring rough benches under log-supported roofs of small limbs, vines, and brush. Next came log churches, some of which survive today. Finally, with the invention of the circular saw and water-powered sawmills, inexpensive uniform lumber was available. Then came the steam-powered scroll saw that allowed more inventive decorative trim. Although some settlers of varying nationalities built according to their native construction practices and the demands of their worship traditions, in general, an almost generic meeting house predominated. Foremost, however, was the sheer determination expressed, as one minister said quoting some early German immigrants, “Church first and best, then our homes slightly later.”

Early wooden churches that have survived are seen most often in rural areas and small communities; some remain even in now languishing small towns while a few are preserved in cities. Most of these are carefully maintained by those who recognize and value their heritage; many have been placed on historic registers.

Architecture

Approximately a third of the early wooden churches featured in this book were built before 1865, slightly more that half were built between 1865 and 1900, and about a fifth were built between 1900 and 1940, most of these early in the century. Basically, there were two inspirational sources from architectural history: the classical styles of ancient Greece and Rome and the Christian styles of medieval Europe. The most popular building styles of this period in small towns and rural areas were inspired by a European medieval style known as Gothic.

Early in the nineteenth century,

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