Rodney Presbyterian Church

Rodney Presbyterian Church
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Mississippi Show map of the United States
Nearest city	Alcorn, Mississippi
Coordinates	31.8628°N 91.1998°W / 31.8628; -91.1998
Area	22 acres (8.9 ha)
Built	1832
NRHP reference No.	73001018[1]
Added to NRHP	February 6, 1973

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

History

Plantation owner and millionaire David Hunt (1779-1861), also known as "King David," donated the land upon which the church was built.[2] Presbyterian Reverend Jeremiah Chamberlain began the building of the church in 1829.[3]

The church building was built from 1829 to 1832 in the Federal architectural style.[4][5][6] It was built with red bricks, "rounded archives, "a stepped gable" and "an octagonal bell tower."[5]

The church played a specific role during the American Civil War of 1861-1865. On Sunday, September 13, 1863, Reverend Baker invited crew members of the Union USS Rattler gunboat to attend his service.[5][6] However, Confederates burst into the church to arrest them.[5][6] 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.[5][6] The damage is still visible to this day.[5][6]

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. March 13, 2009.
2. Dunbar Hunt, "Sketch of David Hunt," Fayette, Mississippi: The Fayette Chronicle, 29 May 1908, Volume XLI, Number 35 [1]
3. And Speaking of Which
4. Sherry Pace, Historic Churches of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi: University Press of Mississippi, 2007, p. xi [2]
5. Jim Fraiser, Mississippi River Country Tales: A Celebration of 500 Years of Deep South History, Gretna, Louisiana: Pelican Publishing, 2000, p. 96 [3]
6. June Davis Davidson, Country Stores of Mississippi, The History Press, 2014, pp. 93-94 [4]