George Jones Memorial Baptist Church

Last updated
George Jones Memorial Baptist Church
Oak-ridge-george-jones-tn1.jpg
Front of the church
USA Tennessee location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Usa edcp location map.svg
Red pog.svg
LocationBlair Rd., Oak Ridge, Tennessee
Coordinates 35°56′21″N84°22′22″W / 35.93917°N 84.37278°W / 35.93917; -84.37278 Coordinates: 35°56′21″N84°22′22″W / 35.93917°N 84.37278°W / 35.93917; -84.37278
Built1901
MPS Oak Ridge MPS
NRHP reference No. 92000408 [1]
Added to NRHPMay 6, 1992

The George Jones Memorial Baptist Church, also known as the "Wheat Church," is a historic church building at the former site of the community of Wheat in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. [2] [3] It is the only structure remaining from Wheat, a rural Roane County community that was dissolved in 1942 when the United States government assumed ownership of the land for the Manhattan Project.

Founded in 1854 as a United Baptist congregation by 26 members of the Sulphur Springs Church of Christ, [4] it was established in Wheat in the northern part of Roane County. Originally named the "Mount Zion Baptist Church," it changed its name to "George Jones Memorial Baptist Church" in 1901, after a local minister who had donated most of the land for the community. [5] In the same year, the congregation built a new building, which remains today. [6]

The church is considered a good example of a rural vernacular church building. It is a three-bay, rectangular plan brick building with wood cladding, a square bell tower, and a standing-seam metal roof. There are two rooms in its interior, an anteroom and the sanctuary, separated from one another by a waist-high partition. A 1½ acre cemetery is located west of the church. [6]

The George Jones church served not only as a religious facility, but also as a community gathering place for Wheat residents. [6] When Wheat was vacated by the federal government in 1942 as part of the Manhattan Project, the George Jones Memorial Baptist Church was abandoned with the rest of the community. [5] All other Wheat buildings have been demolished. [6] As the only pre-1942 building remaining in what was once Wheat, [6] the church is the location of annual reunions of former residents. [7]

The church is east of the K-25 site and a short distance north of State Route 58, from which it is visible. [8] It is located on the old Wheat Road, a gravel road (accessible from Blair Road (SR 327)) that follows the historical roadbed of a one-time local thoroughfare. [6] The church building and the road are owned and maintained by the U.S. Department of Energy. [6] [9] Motorized travel on the road is limited to government vehicles, [8] but the road is open to pedestrians and bicycles as a public greenway trail. [9]

George Jones Memorial Baptist Church was one of six Oak Ridge properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. [6] This listing reflects its significance as the only existing physical remnant of the Wheat community, a physical representation of rural life in the area in the 19th century and the early decades of the 20th century, and an example of vernacular church architecture. [6]

Related Research Articles

Oak Ridge, Tennessee City in Anderson and Roane counties in Tennessee, United States

Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson and Roane counties in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about 25 miles (40 km) west of downtown Knoxville. Oak Ridge's population was 29,330 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Knoxville Metropolitan Area. Oak Ridge's nicknames include the Atomic City, the Secret City, the Ridge, and the City Behind the Fence.

United Church, The Chapel on the Hill United States historic place

The United Church, Chapel on the Hill in Oak Ridge, Tennessee was the city's main church during World War II. Dedicated on September 30, 1943 and completed late in October 1943, it was originally a multi-denominational chapel shared by Catholic, Protestant and Jewish congregations.

Robertsville was a farming community in Anderson County, Tennessee, that was disbanded in 1942 when the area was acquired for the Manhattan Project. Its site is now part of the city of Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Wheat, Tennessee

Wheat was a farming community in Roane County, Tennessee. The area is now in the city of Oak Ridge.

Post Oak Springs Christian Church United States historic place

Post Oak Springs Christian Church is an independent, non-denominational Christian church in rural Roane County, Tennessee, associated with the Restoration Movement. It is said to be the oldest Restoration Movement Christian Church in the American state of Tennessee, having been formed in 1812.

Central Woodward Christian Church United States historic place

The Central Woodward Christian Church, now known as The Historic Little Rock Missionary Baptist Church, is a Gothic Revival church located in Detroit, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

Montville Baptist Church United States historic place

The Montville Baptist Church, now known as the Sandisfield Arts Center, is an historic former Baptist church and Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 5 Hammertown Road in Sandisfield, Massachusetts. The Greek Revival building was constructed in 1839 as a Baptist church. After 83 years as a Baptist church meeting house, the building was converted into use as an Orthodox synagogue for 75 years. In 1995 the Sandisfield Arts Center formed as a non-profit to preserve the building. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.

Little Greenbrier School United States historic place

The Little Greenbrier School is a former schoolhouse and church in the ghost town of Little Greenbrier in Sevier County, Tennessee, United States. Located near Gatlinburg in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it was built in 1882, and was used as a school and church almost continuously until 1936. When the residents of Little Greenbrier asked Sevier County to provide it with a teacher, the county replied that if the community would build a proper schoolhouse, the county would pay the teacher's salary. The land on which the school was built was donated by Gilbert Abbott, and the logs were provided by Ephraim Ogle and hauled to the site by oxen teams. Dozens of Little Greenbrier residents, among the John Walker, father of the Walker Sisters, gathered on an agreed-upon day in January 1882 and raised the schoolhouse.

First Free Will Baptist Church in Meredith United States historic place

The First Free Will Baptist Church in Meredith is a historic church building at 61 Winona Road in Meredith, New Hampshire, United States. Built about 1802 and remodeled in 1848, it is a good example of a mid-19th century vernacular Greek Revival rural church. It is now a museum called the Pottle Meeting House, managed by the local historical society. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Cotton Mountain Community Church United States historic place

The Cotton Mountain Community Church, also known as the Wolfeborough, Brookfield and Wakefield Meetinghouse, is a historic church on Stoneham Road in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, near the town line with Brookfield. Built about 1852, it is a well-preserved example of a rural New England meeting house with vernacular Greek Revival style. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. Since 1957, when it stopped being used for services, it has been cared for by a local nonprofit group.

Early Settlers Meeting House United States historic place

The Early Settlers Meeting House is a historic church building at the junction of Granite and Foggs Ridge roads at Leighton Corners in the town of Ossipee, New Hampshire, United States. Built in the 1810s for a Free Will Baptist congregation and remodeled in 1856, it is a well-preserved example of a vernacular mid-19th century church. Now owned by the Ossipee Historical Society, the building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

Union Church (South Wolfeboro, New Hampshire) United States historic place

The Union Church is a historic church on South Main Street in South Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. Built in 1845 for the use of several small religious congregations, it is a well-preserved example of mid-19th century vernacular Greek Revival architecture. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Goshen Church United States historic place

Goshen Church is a historic church on Goshen Road in Bradford, Vermont. Built in 1834, it is a fine and little-altered example of vernacular Greek Revival architecture in a rural setting. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Briceville Community Church United States historic place

The Briceville Community Church is a nondenominational church located in Briceville, Tennessee, United States. Built in 1887, the church served as a center of social life and community affairs for the Coal Creek Valley during the valley's coal mining boom period in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. In 2003, the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its historical role and as an example of rural Gothic Revival architecture.

Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge United States historic place

The Presbyterian Church in Basking Ridge is a historic church at 1 E. Oak Street in the Basking Ridge section of Bernards Township in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States. Its churchyard held the Old Oak Tree of Basking Ridge, estimated to be 600 years old, until 2017.

Bethel Methodist Church (Bantam, Ohio) United States historic place

Bethel Methodist Church is a historic Methodist church building in rural Clermont County, Ohio, United States. Built in the 1810s under the leadership of one of Ohio's earliest Methodist preachers, it has survived the death of its congregation, and it remains in use for community activities. Together with its cemetery, the building continues to be used occasionally, and it has been named a historic site.

Republican Primitive Baptist Church United States historic place

Republican Primitive Baptist Church is a historic African-American church of the Primitive Baptist tradition located in rural Haywood County, Tennessee, about 10 miles west of Brownsville.

New Bethel Baptist Church (Oak Ridge, Tennessee) United States historic place

New Bethel Baptist Church is a historic church on Bethel Valley Road in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Clinton Engineer Works Manhattan Project uranium enrichment facility

The Clinton Engineer Works (CEW) was the production installation of the Manhattan Project that during World War II produced the enriched uranium used in the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, as well as the first examples of reactor-produced plutonium. It consisted of production facilities arranged at three major sites, various utilities including a power plant, and the town of Oak Ridge. It was in East Tennessee, about 18 miles (29 km) west of Knoxville, and was named after the town of Clinton, eight miles (13 km) to the north. The production facilities were mainly in Roane County, and the northern part of the site was in Anderson County. The Manhattan District Engineer, Kenneth Nichols, moved the Manhattan District headquarters from Manhattan to Oak Ridge in August 1943. During the war, Clinton's advanced research was managed for the government by the University of Chicago.

State Route 327, also known as Blair Road, is a 5.7-mile-long (9.2 km) north–south state highway in Roane County, Tennessee. It serves as a connector between the towns of Oliver Springs and Harriman with the western end of the city of Oak Ridge.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. Topographical map, USGS. Accessed 2009-06-09.
  3. Map of Oak Ridge, City of Oak Ridge, 2008. Accessed 2009-06-10.
  4. Roberts, Snyder E. Origin of First Baptist Church of Oliver Springs 1846–1980 via Some Churches and Cemeteries of Roane County Tennessee Archived 2009-06-03 at the Wayback Machine . Accessed 2009-06-07.
  5. 1 2 Smith, D. Ray and Steve Goodpasture. "Wheat — Education, sacrifice and proud memories." The Oak Ridger. 26 September 2006.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Listing of Multiple Properties at Oak Ridge in the National Register of Historic Places" (PDF). U.S. Department of Energy. May 20, 1992. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 3, 2010.
  7. "Wheat residents will meet for 72nd reunion." The Oak Ridger. 1 October 2004. Accessed 10 June 2009.
  8. 1 2 Photographs at Wheat Community, mensetmanus. Accessed 2009-06-07.
  9. 1 2 Oak Ridge sprouted where Wheat once thrived, Knoxville News Sentinel , 2007-06-10. Accessed 2009-06-10.