Joshua and Barbara Willis, who
moved to Forest Hill in 1848, donated the land for a church site.
The Forest Grove cemetery, about two miles north of the current church
site, is all that remains of that early church. The old church was
located within the white section of the cemetery.
The church was built by J.C.
Blackman one mile north of the Major Dyer (or Blake Tooke) homesite.
It is said that William Stephenson, an early circuit rider, is buried either
at the Forest Grove cemetery or at the plantation cemetery near the Tooke
pond.
The church moved to Arizona
in 1866. A church was built north of the current site towards the
Arizona School. It was torn down and a new church built about 1882.
The second Arizona church was built on land donated by Joshua Willis on
July 27, 1871. Doss Pennington built the new church in exchange for
$1000 and the old church. The pews, hand made by Matison Nicholson,
are still in use. In those days, women entered through the right
door and sat on the right side of the church, and men entered the left
door and sat on the left. The young people sat in the middle.
On October 9, 1946, the school
board voted to allow the community to use the school for any purpose they
wanted. Under the leadership of Rev. W.D. Boddie, the school was
torn down and its lumber used to partition the church vestibule to create
two classrooms. The sanctuary was moved forward. A combination
activity room and classrooms were extended across the back of the building.
An altar rail was added at that time. The piano was played by Annie
Barr Baker from about 1926 till her death in 1979.
In 1956, hardwood floors and
wall board were installed while Rev. Roland K. Friederich served as pastor.
In 1980, a bathroom was added to the
facilities. Velvet pew cushions were donated by Dr. Leroy Little
in 1983. A kitchen was added in 1993 as a memorial to Kirk Womack.
The church was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places on December 22, 1983. |
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