This is one of two abandoned churches in Westwood.
Tag Archives: Churches of Ben Hill County GA
West Point Missionary Baptist Church, Westwood
West Point Baptist Church is an historic African-American congregation in the Westwood community of Fitzgerald. Westwood was populated by skilled African-American machinists, most of whom worked in the nearby Atlantic Coast Line Railroad shops. It’s interesting that the establishment of the church predates the settlement of Fitzgerald and the location of the railroad by nearly 20 years. The present structure was built in 1972.
The church, which is the center of the Westwood community today, recently lost its well-loved and long serving pastor, Reverend Willie B. Pride (1938-2020).
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--, Fitzgerald GA, Westwood GA
Vernacular African-American Church, Fitzgerald
I will update with an identification as soon as I can track down some history of this structure, which is among the oldest wooden churches in Fitzgerald.
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--, Fitzgerald GA
Bethel A. M. E. Church, Fitzgerald
Bethel is one of the oldest African-American congregations in Fitzgerald.
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--, Fitzgerald GA
St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, 1908, Fitzgerald
St. Matthew’s was built using granitoid blocks from the Fitzgerald Granitoid Works.
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--, Fitzgerald GA
Abandoned Church, Ben Hill County
The architecture leads me to believe this was a church, though it could have been a schoolhouse.
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--
Tornado Damage at Young’s Chapel, Ben Hill County
Young’s Chapel has been one of my favorite places since I first discovered it over ten years ago. I drive out from Fitzgerald nearly every time I’m home just to check on it. Though I have no connections to the church, I’ve always felt at home when I visit. It’s the kind of place that has that effect on many. On one of those recent trips, I was heartbroken when I saw the damage done by a tornado which passed through in January. As if this special little church needed anything else working against it.
Luckily, Matt Brown recently rescued the pews before vandals could steal or destroy them. They were gone before the tornado came through.
Talk of restoration has been ongoing, but in light of the recent damage it will be an even more difficult task, perhaps impossible.
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--
Episcopal Vicarage, Fitzgerald
Though I don’t believe it was built for the purpose, this house served for many years as the vicarage of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church in Fitzgerald.
It was razed in 2018.
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--, Fitzgerald GA
Central Christian Church, 1906, Fitzgerald
South Main Street-South Lee Street Historic District, National Register of Historic Places
One of Fitzgerald’s oldest and most beautiful churches, this is now home to the congregation of Faith Baptist.
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--, Fitzgerald GA
Mount Isaac Baptist Church, Circa 1910, Arp
Before it was known as Arp, this community on the Irwin-Ben Hill County line was known as Isaac. The name was changed sometime between 1910 and 1915, and judging by the burial dates in the adjoining cemetery, I would estimate that this church dates to about 1910.
Since there was already an Isaac Baptist Church, the small African-American community here named their church Mount Isaac, to distinguish it from the the white church. And though Arp is located in Irwin County, the church and cemetery are just over the county line in Ben Hill.
Many thanks to Laura Wiggins Norris for bringing it to my attention, and to Dale Bledsoe for the history.
Filed under --BEN HILL COUNTY GA--, --IRWIN COUNTY GA--, Arp GA
