Mt. Olive Baptist Church was founded in 1882 by 16 charter members, all former slaves or the children of former slaves. It held services in a brush arbor and a cotton gin before building its first sanctuary in 1886 at Main and Marion Streets. The present sanctuary, designed by Negro architect Wade Alston Ford and built by members of the congregation in 1922-26, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.