Near Brownsville in Haywood County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Woodlawn Baptist Church
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 25, 2022
1. Woodlawn Baptist Church Marker
National Register of Historic Places Registration Form:
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Tennessee
Historical Association
Woodlawn Baptist
Church Est. 1866
of Historic Places
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Churches & Religion. A significant historical year for this entry is 1866.
Location. 35° 39.222′ N, 89° 21.908′ W. Marker is near Brownsville, Tennessee, in Haywood County. Marker is on Woodlawn Road, 0.4 miles south of Tennessee Route 19, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 363 Woodlawn Rd, Brownsville TN 38012, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 7 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. In Memory of Rev. Harden Smith (a few steps from this marker); Church Bell History (a few steps from this marker); James Bond (approx. 6.3 miles away); Richard Halliburton (approx. 6.6 miles away); College Hill Center Historic District (approx. 6.6 miles away); Haywood County's C.S.A. Colonels (approx. 6.6 miles away); Joseph Wingate Folk (approx. 6.7 miles away); Brownsville Public School / Haywood County Memorial Hospital (approx. 6.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Brownsville.
Regarding Woodlawn Baptist Church. Excerpt from the National Register nomination:
Thehistory of the congregation of the Woodlawn Baptist Church dates to the era of slavery, circa 1845. Harden Smith (1829-1929) was a slave carpenter of William H. Loving, served as the first minister. Loving operated a plantation east of Brownsville in the community known as Brooklyn, now known as Nutbush. Loving's children secretly taught Smith how to read and write; Loving, himself, was a minister. Between 1845 and 1850, Harden Smith began to preach secretly to small numbers of slaves, who often congregated along the Hatchie River. In 1850, Smith married Jane Rucker (d. 1882). Throughout the 1850s, a sizeable gathering of African Americans from neighboring plantations began to receive Sunday evening worship services at a nearby white church. With the end of the Civil War, the newly freed people quickly broke any formal ties with the white church. On the second Sunday in June 1865, Harden Smith led the establishment of the Woodlawn Baptist Church; the first service was held in a brush arbor.
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Also see . . . Our Story. Smith and other pastors who followed him shepherded the church's spiritual and physical growth. (Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church) (Submitted on June 26, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.)
Photographed By Duane and Tracy Marsteller, June 25, 2022
2. Woodlawn Baptist Church Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on June 28, 2022. It was originally submitted on June 26, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 183 times since then and 31 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on June 26, 2022, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
