Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery

Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery
Location Woodlawn Rd., S of TN 19
Nutbush, Tennessee
Coordinates 35°39′11″N 89°21′54″W / 35.653042°N 89.364917°W / 35.653042; -89.364917Coordinates: 35°39′11″N 89°21′54″W / 35.653042°N 89.364917°W / 35.653042; -89.364917
Built 1927
Architectural style gothic & class riv influence
NRHP Reference # 96001358[1]
Added to NRHP December 2, 1996

Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery, also known as Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church, is an US historic location in Nutbush, Haywood County, Tennessee. It is on Woodlawn Road, south of Tennessee State Route 19.

For its historical significance, Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.[2]

Woodlawn Baptist Church was a family church of singer Tina Turner.[3]

History

Establishment in 1866

The church was established in 1866 by freed slaves of the community and members of the white Woodlawn Baptist Church. Most slave congregations were ministered by white pastors but in 1846, the young slave Hardin Smith of Virginia was allowed to preach to a slave congregation at the white Woodlawn Church, then located near Woodlawn Road, establishing the first area congregation pastored by a slave.[4][5]

Education for freed slaves

Woodlawn Baptist Church Cemetery in Nutbush (2007)

Hardin Smith was secretly taught to read and write through the Bible by his owner's wife. He in turn secretly taught the community of slaves to read and write. Following slavery, through census reports, there were more freed slaves in Haywood County, Tennessee who could read and write than anywhere in the state of Tennessee. They helped establish schools and colleges for black citizens in Tennessee and some became state representatives, writers, ministers, doctors, lawyers, and teachers.[4][5]

More churches organized

The community leader Smith, organized six churches in Haywood and Lauderdale counties including Woodlawn Missionary Baptist Church in Nutbush.[4][5]

National Register of Historic Places

In 1996, Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery was added to the National Register of Historic Places for its historical significance.[2]

Tina Turner Highway

Woodlawn Baptist Church is located 3 mi (4.8 km) southeast of Nutbush, south of Tennessee State Route 19. A stretch of State Route 19 between Brownsville and Nutbush was named "Tina Turner Highway" in 2002 after singer Tina Turner who spent her childhood in Nutbush.[6][7][8]

Woodlawn Baptist Church in Nutbush was a family church of Tina Turner. She attended and sang in the choir growing up. Her family members were church officials, musicians and singers who are buried in the cemetery.[3]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Woodlawn Baptist Church and Cemetery.
  1. ↑ Staff (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com National Register of Historic Places
  3. 1 2 Information by Sharon Norris, national preservationist, author and researcher of Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee; relative of Tina Turner and native of Nutbush
  4. 1 2 3 The Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture, Rutledge Press
  5. 1 2 3 Norris, Sharon, Black America Series: Haywood County Tennessee, Arcadia Publishing
  6. ↑ Wilder, John S. (January 17, 2002). "SB 2798: Highway Signs – "Tina Turner Highway"" (PDF). Legislation Archives – Bills and Resolutions: 102nd General Assembly. Nashville, TN: Tennessee Senate. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  7. ↑ Fitzhugh, Craig (January 22, 2002). "HB 2535: Highway Signs – "Tina Turner Highway"" (PDF). Legislation Archives – Bills and Resolutions: 102nd General Assembly. Nashville, TN: Tennessee House of Representatives. Retrieved June 26, 2010.
  8. ↑ Associated Press (September 25, 2002). "Highway to Be Named for Tina Turner". AP Online News Wire. Retrieved June 26, 2010.

Further reading

External links

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