Z is for

Zion Baptist Church

from the Church website:
"Prior to 1866, Blacks, most of whom were former slaves, were members of the First Baptist Church of Marietta. From the early 1860's several attempts were made to provide for separate worship services such as a separate conference and a separate place of worship. However, in each case, a white representative was to be present.

In 1866, letters of dismissal were granted to eighty-eight black members for the purpose of constituting a separate Baptist Church; thus, Zion Baptist Church was organized April 8, 1866 with Reverend Ephraim B. Rucker as Pastor.


Two weeks later, the first Sunday school was organized. "

Zion Baptist Church traces its history back to Dicey, the first slave who was allowed to attend services at First Baptist Church of Marietta in 1836. The group saved and collected $70 to buy the 40-by-60-foot property at the corner of Lemon and Haynes streets in downtown Marietta.
The first wooden structure was destroyed in a fire. The brick sanctuary was completed in 1888.

Here's a picture of the congregation outside that building in 1935.

The original structure is one of the oldest buildings in Marietta. In 1990 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was restored in 1997 and in 2003 it opened as the Old Zion Heritage Museum.

Earlier this year on Sunday, October 31, an historical marker was placed outside the original structure.