Aiken County · Marker 02-63
Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church
5415 Wagener Rd., Salley
Front inscription
The congregation of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church originated c.1894, when tradition holds that members began worshipping at a brush arbor across the road. Rev. James Turner was the first pastor. Early church leadership included men and women born enslaved as well as free. Many were farmers.
Reverse inscription
) To accommodate the church’s growing membership, congregants acquired the present site in 1897 and soon after built the first chapel. The first chapel was a one-story wood frame clapboard building with a three-story tiered bell tower projecting from the front façade. It was razed after the current church was built in 1986.