The Rev. Hillary Hooks, formerly enslaved on the James E. Winston plantation, organized Camp Zion Baptist Church in 1870. Winston granted land to Camp Zion trustees in 1887, and in 1888 part of the membership left to organize Rising Star Baptist Church. The Camp Zion church building also served as a school, a refuge during floods, and a Red Cross chapter location during World War I. The Camp Zion Community Cemetery was established in 1905 on land donated by the Duncan family. In 1998, the Camp Zion and Rising Star Baptist congregations reunited as a single church family that continues to include descendants of the formerly enslaved families who founded the church.