Historic Rural Churches of Georgia

Historic Rural Churches of Georgia Join us as we travel through Georgia exploring the state's Historic Rural Churches! Be sure to go to www.hrcga.org to see all the churches we have visited!
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Here at Historic Rural Churches of Georgia, we have put together a diverse team from all across the state of Georgia with a mission to research, document and ultimately preserve historic rural churches across the state. Take the journey with us as we travel across Georgia with new postings every week. How can you help, you ask? By sharing and liking our posts, by telling your friends and family, a

nd by visiting these wonderful churches. Please be sure to subscribe to our email newsletter [>> http://bit.ly/2CAynGG

👉🏼 Did you know we have 2 books?We're so proud of each of these and we think they should be a staple in anyone's library...
08/31/2026

👉🏼 Did you know we have 2 books?

We're so proud of each of these and we think they should be a staple in anyone's library who is interested in Georgia history!

Each book features beautiful photography and the history of 50 rural churches across the state of Georgia that helped to shape the state into what it is.

We produced these coffee-table style books with the University of Georgia Press, and they're both available at the link below.

✨Ruckersville was quite the place at the beginning of the 19th century, named for Joseph Rucker, who had migrated from ...
08/30/2026

✨Ruckersville was quite the place at the beginning of the 19th century, named for Joseph Rucker, who had migrated from Virginia after the Revolutionary War.

Rucker owned as many as 12 plantations and was known as 'Squire' Rucker'. He was also known as 'Georgia's First Millionaire'.

Today there is little left of the original town of Ruckersville, other than a few cemeteries and the little Methodist Church.

Read more about it here: https://www.hrcga.org/church/ruckersville-methodist/

📸Photo courtesy of Randy Clegg

✨Nacoochee Presbyterian in White County was founded c. 1870 on land given by Captain James H. Nichols and his family. A ...
08/29/2026

✨Nacoochee Presbyterian in White County was founded c. 1870 on land given by Captain James H. Nichols and his family. A devout Presbyterian, Captain Nichols succeeded in forming a Presbyterian church within a year of his arrival. The congregation eventually moved from their original building to a new one that was lost to fire and in 1927, they had to rebuild. The church that stands today still has an active congregation and 150+ years later, is a legacy to its founders.

Click here for more photos and history: https://www.hrcga.org/church/nacoochee-presbyterian/

📸Photos courtesy of Wolfgang Enneker

✨The simple but beautiful interior that you'll find at the sanctuary of Jerusalem Lutheran Church hasn't changed much si...
08/28/2026

✨The simple but beautiful interior that you'll find at the sanctuary of Jerusalem Lutheran Church hasn't changed much since it's construction in 1769.

Being built of brick (when other churches of the time were predominantly made of wood) has surely contributed to the survival of this building which is thought to be one of the oldest public buildings in our state.

It's fascinating history involving exiles from Germany and if you're interested, you can read the rest of that story below.

📸Photo courtesy of John Kirkland

Oak Grove Methodist Church in Screven County is one of the important examples of historic churches that are almost gone....
08/28/2026

Oak Grove Methodist Church in Screven County is one of the important examples of historic churches that are almost gone. Scattered across our state are many just like this one that have been empty for many years, their congregations having moved on. But we can still see the beauty and the importance of these fading historic sites and we hope you can too.

From Methodist Church history, we know that Oak Grove was organized under a brush arbor in 1876 with five members. The sanctuary you see here was completed in 1919 and re-modeled in 1978. The cemetery contains graves prior to the 1919 completion date of the above sanctuary, which leads us to believe that there was another structure on or about this location and this church replaced it.

The history tells us there were 122 members in 1982, and while we don't know when this structure was vacated, the church is still active in another location.

📸Photo courtesy of John Kirkland

✨Summertown, Georgia, hasn't changed much over the past century, holding fast to its roots as a community founded by fam...
08/27/2026

✨Summertown, Georgia, hasn't changed much over the past century, holding fast to its roots as a community founded by families who were seeking higher ground from malaria-prone swamps. This church became the heart of town life- home to worship, community, and a cemetery where early settlers rest.

Though the congregation dissolved in 1995, the church has been lovingly restored, preserving this historic landmark for future generations.

You can read more about it below.

📸Photo courtesy of John Kirkland

✨The town of Ambrose in Coffee County was founded in 1899 surrounding the arrival of the AB&A Railroad.In 1915, a local ...
08/27/2026

✨The town of Ambrose in Coffee County was founded in 1899 surrounding the arrival of the AB&A Railroad.

In 1915, a local gave land to church trustees to build Ambrose Christian Church. The church looks almost the same come on so go today like it did back then, and still has the original Georgian heart pine floors, original glass windows, and light fixtures. Some of the pews are original as well.

📸Photos courtesy of Tony Cantrell

✨The little red church in the pines that you see above is unique in many ways, and is one of the most charming we have d...
08/26/2026

✨The little red church in the pines that you see above is unique in many ways, and is one of the most charming we have discovered in rural Georgia.

Antioch Methodist was organized c. 1844 in Clinch County and this is likely the second or third church building on this site, constructed in the mid-1890s.

You can read more of the story below

📸Photos courtesy of Randall Davis

✨Ceres Baptist Church was organized in 1884 to serve a community of farmers but was relocated to nearby Musella in 1908 ...
08/26/2026

✨Ceres Baptist Church was organized in 1884 to serve a community of farmers but was relocated to nearby Musella in 1908 after the arrival of the A&F Railroad.

More history of the church here:

📸Photo courtesy of Tony Cantrell

Back in August 1935, Arthur Rothstein created these images of the Irwinville Baptist and Methodist churches in Irwin Cou...
08/25/2026

Back in August 1935, Arthur Rothstein created these images of the Irwinville Baptist and Methodist churches in Irwin County, Georgia. Rothstein was a photographer from New York who traveled throughout the rural U.S. documenting farms and rural life on behalf of the Farm Services Administration (FSA). He had studied photography at Columbia University and when he took these phtographs, he was 20 years old.

We have also included some of the images Rothstein took of two farmering families in the Irwinville community on his visit in 1935. According to the labels on the images, most of these families had been resettled on area farms as part of the FSA programs.

Today, neither of the old churches still stand and we are looking for more of their histories so if you can contribute any information, please comment below!

📸Photo by Arthur Rothstein for the Library of Congress.

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Crawfordville, GA
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