Near Mars Bluff in Florence County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Mt. Zion Methodist Church

Photographed by Cindy Bullard, October 27, 2010

1. Mt. Zion Methodist Church Marker (front)

Inscription.
[Front]
This church, founded in 1868 with Rev. James Wesley Johnson as its first minister, held its early services in a brush arbor. In 1870 trustees purchased this 1 ¾ acre tract to build a “Negro Schoolhouse” sponsored by the church, the first in the Mars Bluff community. This sanctuary, originally a frame building, was built in 1875 on a tract purchased from the school.

[Reverse]
The sanctuary was extensively remodeled and covered in brick veneer in 1970. The cemetery nearby, established in 1876, includes the graves of such early church leaders as Anthony H. Howard (1840-1908), a former slave who served in the S.C. House of Representatives during Reconstruction. Howard was also one of several black farmers who grew rice here after the Civil War.

Erected 2004 by the Congregation. (Marker Number 21-17.)

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical year for this entry is 1868.

Location. 34° 10.758′ N, 79° 38.616′ W. Marker is near Mars Bluff, South Carolina, in Florence County. It is on Liberty Chapel Rd. when traveling east. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Florence SC 29506, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

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 original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers.

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Mt. Zion Rosenwald School (within shouting distance of this marker); Red Doe (approx. 0.4 miles away); Mars Bluff Rice Growers (approx. one mile away); Hewn-Timber Cabins (approx. 1.2 miles away); Francis Marion Memorial Highway (approx. 1.3 miles away); Gregg-Wallace Farm Tenant House (approx. 1.6 miles away); Atomic Bomb Accident at Mars Bluff, March 11, 1958 (approx. 1.6 miles away); Mars Bluff (approx. 1.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Mars Bluff.

Mt. Zion Methodist Church Marker (reverse) image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cindy Bullard, October 27, 2010

2. Mt. Zion Methodist Church Marker (reverse)

Mt. Zion Methodist Church image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Cindy Bullard, October 27, 2010

3. Mt. Zion Methodist Church

Credits. This page was last revised on January 12, 2025. It was originally submitted on October 28, 2010, by David Bullard of Seneca, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,294 times since then and 32 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on October 28, 2010, by David Bullard of Seneca, South Carolina. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.