Darlington County · Marker 16-86
Round O Baptist Church
1900 Society Hill Rd., Darlington vicinity
Front inscription
In c.1883, freed African Americans and their descendants living on Round O Plantation withdrew from nearby Flat Creek Baptist Church and formed Round O Baptist Church. They built their first church here in 1895, when Rev. Isaiah Walter Williams (c.1873-1932) was pastor. Major James Jonathan Lucas, the owner of Round O Plantation, provided the land for the church.
Reverse inscription
Soon after moving to this site, Round O Baptist Church organized a public school for Black children, which later moved across the road. The first church burned in 1903 and was replaced with a white, wooden structure with a central tower. That second church was removed in c.1967 to construct the building on the south side of the site. The current church was built adjacent in 1999.