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workstosaveAlamance commission wants Martin’s Chapelput on national registerBy ANDREW BARKSDALETimes-NewsPLEASANT GROVE — Life in this community has hummed around Martin’s Chapel Baptist Church for nearly a century, so an Alamance County group is pushing to have it listed as a historical site.For Gilberta Jeffries Mitchell and other lifelong natives to this northeastern patch of Alamance County, the church and cemetery have a special place in their memories.The retired school teacher grew up in the church, and like most neighbors, her family was there whenever the doorswere open. They attended the corn shucking, hog killing and other socials.Times were poor then, and many families were sharecroppers. Mitchell recalled.You walked where you went. And when you didn't walk, you took a wagon, said Mitchell, who grew up in the 1920s and 30s and joined a Catholic church after she married.Many natives have American Indian lineage — Occaneeehi and Saponi settled present-day Pleasant Grove about 1780.Their descendants were called ‘‘colored people in past generations, and the area was called Little Texas” on maps until the 1950s, said Forest Hazel. a Mebane historian.Today, the area stands as one of the oldest intact hamlets ofpeople of color in the Piedmont.“We have very few properties that highlight communities of color, and we think this is pretty significant because of that,” Hazel said. This area represents one of the last remnants of the Saponi.”That heritage, combined with the church's vitality, is why the Alamance County HistoricPropertieshere’s a lot of history out here, but most people don’t know it.”Forest Hazel Mebane historian and Alamance County Historic Properties Commission memberThe Alamance County Historic Properties Commission wants to restore Martin’s ChapelBaptist Church in Pleasant Grove.Commission wants to see the church listed on the National Register of Historic Places.“There’s a lot of history out here, but most people don’t know it,” Hazel, a commission member, said as he stood on a dirt path that sweeps past the church framed by stately oaks.About 100 years ago, the path was the main road between Yanceyville and Hillsborough. It’s not used any more, as woods and farmland swallow up the path about 100 yards in either direction.The country church also has a cemetery where more than 300 people are buried. Sam Martin, who lived from 1834 to 1909. donated land for the cemetery. The oldest graves date to the 1880s.His son. Sol Martin, gave land for the church, which was built about 1908. Fire destroyed the structure sometime before World War I, but churchgoers quickly rebuilt it with its present-day red brick.The Jeffries, Whitmores. Stewarts, Corns and Burnett(e)sare synonymous family names with Pleasant Grove. The Martins arrived in the 1850s, and today much of the land around the church is owned by one Jeffries family or another.Jeffries Cross Church, which also has a cemetery, about five miles away isactually older— it was started about 1865 But its founder and most of its members were buried in Martin’s Chapel cemetery.“It was a long trek for people back then, and Martin’s Chapel was more to-Forest Hazel, left, and Coy Burnett stand in the old cemetery of Martin’s Chapel Baptist Church last week. Hazel, a Mebane historian, and Burnett, a church deacon, are among the people who are trying to get the church designated as a historical site.ward the center of the community, Hazel said.About 50 to 60 worshipers gather at Martin’s Chapel each Sunday morning. While many people who grew up there have since moved away, they still choose to be buried here, said Coy Burnett, 73, a church deacon.Hazel, who has researched the Pleasant Grove area for 15 years, is writing the reportneeded for the nomination to the National Register of Historic Places. He expects to finish it by this summer.The National Park Service and the state both must approve the national listing. A decision could take a year.The county has applied for a $1,700 state historic preservation grant to pay Hazel for his work. County planners said the county has set aside enough money to pay Hazel even if the county doesn’t land the grant.In any event, the historic commission is expected to ask the Alamance County Board of Commissioners later this year to have the church and cemetery locally designated as a historic site. The county, which normally acts on the commission's recommendations, agreed to designate five sites — four homes and the Glencoe Mill Village — last year.Mitchell, also on the historic commission, said the designation would encourage landowners to improve some of the houses dotting the countryside.“The people in this community still have more pride than most people in rural areashave, she saidCounty looking at historical designation/ ApaceRoad■i \ Pleasant Grove Elementary School119//Area enlargedGtaham jBurlingtonL.Martin’s Chapel Baptist ChurchALAMANCE |COUNTYTimes-NewsPhotosby Jack Sink /Times-Newsu. 3*31This is one of the tombstones in the cemetery at Martin's Chapel Baptist Church.II II I——w—....
Newspaper Details
Burlington Times News
Burlington, North Carolina, US
Mon, Feb 16, 1998
Page 11
Full Page
Clipped by
Isabelle H.
USA 14 Jun 2019
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