Gray's Creek Baptist Church / Gray's Creek Cemetery

Gray's Creek Baptist Church, also, Gray's Creek Cemetery. . , Gray's Creek Baptist Church. This church is Shelby County's oldest African American congregation. It was founded by two free men of color, preachers Simon Price and Joseph "Free Joe" Harris, and numerous slaves, right after its former occupant, a white congregation, vacated the premises around 1840. Historical evidence indicates that the elder Price was the congregation's first pastor. The Baptists, in 1843, adopted the name Gray's Creek, after the then name of the road on which it is located. This church also served as a school for African Americans, beginning right after slavery ended in 1865, and continuing until the establishment of county schools in 1918., Gray's Creek Cemetery. This cemetery, believed to have been established in the 1830's, is one of the earliest in Shelby County. Originally the Royster family burial ground, the land was acquired by African Americans around 1840. Buried here are many of northeast Shelby County's earliest citizens, including the founders of Gray's Creek Baptist Church, and many of their descendants. The remains of some Caucasians buried here, including members of the Royster family, were transferred to the nearby Morning Sun Presbyterian Cemetery. Others still rest here.