Oak Grove Methodist Church

Trail Overview

This route is entirely within the Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area, a 15,000-acre property bordering the Savannah River. This route spurs from Pine Grove Inn Road and leads to the Old Oak Grove Methodist Church. The church was established in 1876 after the Civil War and was a center of religion for the local freedmen population. The building on site was constructed in 1919, renovated in the late 1970s, and later abandoned, and the church family relocated to a nearby modern building. The building is in a severe state of disrepair, and visitors should not enter any of the structures. One site is a historic cemetery with numerous headstones dated prior to the 1900s.

Photos of Oak Grove Methodist Church

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Difficulty

This is a well maintained dirt road to a rural historic Georgia church.

History

The Old Oak Grove Methodist Church is a powerful symbol of a bygone era, a structure nearly a century old that, sadly, won't be with us much longer. This sanctuary is a beautiful example of a common twin-tower design found in many rural African American churches across the state. The church's history, according to the History of the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church 1866-1984, dates back to 1876. It was organized under a brush arbor with just five members. The sanctuary we see today was built in 1919 and later remodeled in 1978. An interesting architectural puzzle is presented by the cemetery on the church grounds. Since some of the graves predate the 1919 building, it's highly likely that another, earlier structure--possibly a log church--stood on this location. The authors believe the twin towers might have been added to the main structure in 1919, as the central part of the building seems older. This evidence suggests the site has been a place of worship for a long time. The church's formation in 1876 is a significant historical marker. It shows the post-Civil War evolution of Black and white communities, which, after initially sharing the same segregated worship spaces, began to form independent congregations. This makes Oak Grove one of the oldest African American Methodist congregations in the state.

Technical Rating

Oak Grove Methodist Church can be accessed by the following ride types:

• High-Clearance 4x4
• SUV