Port Royal in Montgomery County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)
Legacy of the Enslaved
Photographed by Tom Bosse, October 2, 2026
1. Legacy of the Enslaved Marker
Built on a Struggle
Soon after the Civil War, African American culture bloomed in Port Royal. Churches and fraternal organizations were formed for the first time. African Americans kept store and practiced trades in the town of Port Royal of their own determination – not that of a white owner. This is not to say the African Americans didn’t encounter adversity in Port Royal. As you will read below, it was quite to the contrary. Despite a past of enslavement and the Jim Crow era that followed, the African American community defied their circumstances and bloomed. Today, their story is as much the story of Port Royal as flatboats and tobacco.
To live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die. Pioneer Colored Christians, 1911.
Mt. Zion Baptist Church
In 1867 Reverend Horace Carr led a movement to organize a Baptist Church. This building was located just a half mile south of the center of town and was 30’ x 30’. This church has been burned twice due to racial violence, and enlarged and relocated multiple times to accommodate growth. This congregation still exists and is thriving in Port Royal today!
Above: Mt. Zion Baptist Church in its original location. This was the fourth building located there before the church moved a half mile south to Highway 76.
Benevolent Treasure
Their mission is to assist the disabled, nurse the sick, and bury the dead, and since 1872 the Benevolent Lodge has been doing just that in the Port Royal community. In 1891, they built their first Hall here on the main street in Port Royal. In 1980, they relocated 1 mile west of Port Royal, where the Lodge Hall is today. Like Mt. Zion Church, this lodge has also experienced racial violence when it was burned in 1994. The lodge has been reorganized a number of times and today is known as Benevolent lodge No. 210.
Above: The first Benevolent Lodge Hall built 1 mile west of Port Royal in 1908. It was burned in 1994 due to racial violence.
A Leader and a Minister
Horace Carr was born in enslavement in 1812. After he married to Kitty Winston, he hired himself out from his owner at the cost of $200 annually. Horace
this page online
Above: The home of Horace Carr, ca 1910. It was located just up the river from Port Royal.
Above: Thomas Dortch was an African-American man who was a shoe-maker and ran a shoe store in Port Royal. This map shows the location in 1877.
Right: John McGowen was a broom maker. He had a business model of distributing broom corn seeds among his customers at planting time, and after the corn was harvested, he would follow the crops and make up the brooms on the shares.
Right: While he started his ministry at Mount Zion Baptist Church under his father, Horace, Rev. John Williams Carr became the sixth pastor of the First African Baptist Church of Savannah, Georgia. Organized in 1788, this church stands as the oldest black church in North America.
Erected by Port Royal State Historic Park.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Industry & Commerce • Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical year for this entry is 1911.
Location. 36° 33.242′ N, 87° 8.49′ W. Marker is in Port Royal, Tennessee, in Montgomery County. It is at the intersection of Port Royal Road (State Road 238) and Old Clarksville Springfield Rd, on the right when traveling north on Port Royal Road. Marker is located at the Port Royal State Historic Park. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Adams TN 37010, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Middle Tennessee and in the Highland Rim. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Photographed by Tom Bosse, October 2, 2026
2. Legacy of the Enslaved Marker
Marker is the large marker on the left.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Benevolent Treasure (here, next to this marker); Blacksmith Shop & Warehouse (here, next to this marker); The Town of Port Royal (here, next to this marker); The Enslaved at Port Royal (a few steps from this marker); General Store (a few steps from this marker); Inn & Tavern (a few steps from this marker); Stores of Port Royal (a few steps from this marker); a different marker also named General Store (a few steps from this marker). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Port Royal.
Photographed by Tom Bosse, October 2, 2026
3. Legacy of the Enslaved Marker
Marker is the large marker on the right.
Credits. This page was last revised on October 25, 2026. It was originally submitted on October 21, 2026, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 13 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 21, 2026, by Tom Bosse of Jefferson City, Tennessee. • James Hulse was the editor who published this page.
