Ebenezer Baptist Church

Ebenezer Baptist Church. . On July 31, 1819, Ebenezer Baptist Church was constituted by Isaac Suttle, Lewis C. Davis (“Old Club Axe”), and William Harrod. The first house of worship was a large log house located one mile south of this site, near Bogle's Creek. After fire destroyed the log structure, a second building was constructed here on this site in the 1830s, on the hill where the pastorium now stands., On April 1, 1865, this property dedicated to God became a Civil War battleground. Known as the “Battle of Ebenezer Church,” the brief but fierce engagement pitted more than 1,500 Confederate cavalrymen under the command of Maj. Gen. Nathan B. Forrest against a larger Union force led by Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson, en route to Selma. Forrest was wounded during the fighting here. Union forces captured 300 Confederates and seized three artillery pieces. The Union dead from the battle were buried in the church cemetery on the hill. The following day, Wilson's forces captured and destroyed the Selma Ordinance and Naval Foundry, one of the Confederacy's last remaining industrial and manufacturing centers., The Civil War-era church burned in 1917. A new edifice was built around 1919., Dedicated on the occasion of the church's 200th anniversary.