Rodney Presbyterian Church

Rodney Presbyterian Church
Nearest city Alcorn, Mississippi
Coordinates 31°51′49″N 91°12′21″W / 31.86361°N 91.20583°WCoordinates: 31°51′49″N 91°12′21″W / 31.86361°N 91.20583°W
Area 22 acres (8.9 ha)
Built 1832
Governing body Private
NRHP Reference #

73001018

[1]
Added to NRHP February 06, 1973

Rodney Presbyterian Church is a historic church in Alcorn, Mississippi.

History

Plantation owner and millionaire David Hunt (1779-1861), also known as "King David," donated the land upon which the church was built.[2]

The church building was built from 1829 to 1832 in the Federal architectural style.[3][4][5] It was built with red bricks, "rounded archives, "a stepped gable" and "an octagonal bell tower."[4]

The church played a specific role during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. Indeed, on Sunday, September 13, 1863, Reverend Baker invited crew members of the Union USS Rattler gunboat to attend his service.[4][5] However, Confederates burst into the church to arrest them.[4][5] When other Union crew members found out about the Confederate violation of Sunday truce, they fired a cannonball at the church, which damaged its front wall.[4][5] The damage is still visible to this day.[4][5]

It has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2009-03-13.
  2. ↑ Dunbar Hunt, "Sketch of David Hunt," Fayette, Mississippi: The Fayette Chronicle, 29 May 1908, Volume XLI, Number 35
  3. ↑ Sherry Pace, Historic Churches of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2007, p. xi
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Jim Fraiser, Mississippi River Country Tales: A Celebration of 500 Years of Deep South History, Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 2000, p. 96
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 June Davis Davidson, Country Stores of Mississippi, The History Press, 2014, pp. 93-94