Bath in Beaufort County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

Photographed by Mike Stroud

1. Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Marker

Inscription. This site marks the former location of the Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. The AME Zion denomination, chartered in New York City in 1801, began in the 1790s when discrimination against African American Christians forced them to form their own churches. Constructed sometime between 1895 and 1900, archaeological excavations conducted in 1997 indicated a twenty feet by thirty-three feet timber-framed structure resting on brick piers. No photographs of the church are known to survive but it looked much like the drawing at right, based on the oral histories of Bath residents and archaeological findings.

Little is known about the church or its congregation but it appears that the membership dwindled until the last services in the mid-1940s. The building eventually fell into disrepair and disappeared from the landscape shortly after 1955.

This cast iron bell to the right, the only remaining artifact of the AME Zion Church, called members to worship. Thanks to the preservation efforts of a neighboring property owner, the bell is once again in place on the former church lot. Parishioners are buried in a cemetery

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located to the left and a cemetery marker, dedicated in 1996 and containing the names of the interred, stands nearby. Religious institutions like the AME Zion Church played a major role in African American social and political development and the Bath church helps convey that important story.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Religion & Religious Structures. In addition, it is included in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion (AME Zion) Church series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1801.

Location. 35° 28.232′ N, 76° 48.782′ W. Marker is in Bath, North Carolina, in Beaufort County. It is on Front Street near King Street, on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Bath NC 27808, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Coastal Plain. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

The church would have looked like this drawing by Steve Allen. image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Marker, `

2. The church would have looked like this drawing by Steve Allen.

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. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: John Lawson (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Edward Teach (about 700 feet away); John F. Tompkins (approx. ¼ mile away); St. Thomas Church (approx. ¼ mile away); John Garzia (approx. ¼ mile away); Alexander Stewart (approx. ¼ mile away); First Post Road (approx. 0.4 miles away); First Public Library (approx. 0.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Bath.

Archaeological excavations of a brick pier image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Marker, `

3. Archaeological excavations of a brick pier

The 1996 dedication of the cemetery marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Marker, `

4. The 1996 dedication of the cemetery marker

Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Marker and cast iron bell, as mentioned image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 19, 2013

5. Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Marker and cast iron bell, as mentioned

Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church site and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mike Stroud, April 19, 2013

6. Bath African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church site and Marker

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on June 3, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 1,817 times since then and 65 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on June 3, 2013, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.