Jerusalem Baptist Church

Jerusalem Baptist Church was organized as Mt. Joy Baptist Church in 1867 at the nearby home of Mondoza Bailey, a community leader and carpenter. Amelia “Mother” Howard assisted in organizing this and six other churches. Sent by the United States Freedmen's Bureau, Howard, a teacher from Pennsylvania, helped establish African American schools and churches in the region. Bailey led church members in constructing a wooden building, and Nancy Ellis James, born a free African American woman, and her family provided the land for the church. The current brick structure was built in 1993.

Virginia · United States