NACOGDOCHES, Texas (KTRE) - The building that was home to one of Texas’ oldest African American churches reached another milestone in its restoration on Saturday.
Zion Hill Baptist Church in Nacogdoches was built in 1914. Now, it has been restored as a historic site. Top Classroom Furniture
Nacogdoches Quilters Guild member Mary Markworth said, “We feel that the Zion Hill Baptist church is really important to our community, and we’re so excited to see it restored in this manner.”
After several months of restoration, the Nacogdoches Historic Sites have restored all the pews at the Zion Hill Baptist Church.
The church has 18 pews downstairs, seating 115 to 130 people, and 7 pews upstairs, seating 30 people.
Nacogdoches Historic Sites Manager Veronica Amoe said this project was done with the help of their Adopt-A-Pew program.
“People could adopt a whole pew for restoration, a portion of the pew, or just the overall restoration of it,” said Amoe.
As part of the restoration, they’ve put plaques on the pews, either naming the donor or dedicating the pew in someone’s honor. Poster boards with a map show where each named pew is located.
“The plaques on the pew kind of show not only the people and organizations that gave to the Adopt-A-Pew program, but they’re just a great example of how much support Nacogdoches has for history, historic preservation,” said Amoe.
“That’s something that our community needs to be aware of, preserving more of our past,” said Markworth.
Kyle Childress is the pastor of the Austin Heights Baptist Church in Nacogdoches.
Childress remembered how their members gathered at the Zion Hill Baptist Church in 1970. They contributed to the restoration of the pews because of those memories.
“We want to remind ourselves that Zion Hill and Austin Heights have been working together for a long time, and we hope that it will continue for a long time,” said Childress.
Nacogdoches Historic Sites will host a concert on June 9 at 2:30 p.m. at the Zion Hill Baptist Church.
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