The congregation of Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church originated circa 1894, when tradition holds that members began worshipping at a brush arbor across the road. Rev. James Turner was the first pastor. Early church leadership included men and women born enslaved as well as free, and many were farmers. To accommodate the church’s growing membership, congregants acquired the present site in 1897 and soon after built the first chapel. That chapel was a one-story wood frame clapboard building with a three-story tiered bell tower projecting from the front façade, and it was razed after the current church was built in 1986.