Sardis Missionary Baptist Church today. Photograph by Andrew J. Bramlett.
Sardis Missionary Baptist Church: A Community Cornerstone BY ANDREW J. BRAMLETT
In honor of Black History Month, let’s take a look at the story of Sardis Missionary Baptist Church in downtown Kennesaw. The 1860 federal census listed exactly 240 enslaved persons in Big Shanty, compared with 719 white residents. The youngest enslaved person listed was 1 month old, and the oldest was 60. Several were listed as “fugitives from the state.” The 1870 census listed 116 African American residents living in the Kennesaw district. (There also were fewer white residents listed than in 1860.) Their occupations included cooks, housekeepers, farmers, railroad workers, a blacksmith and a minister. One 13-year-old was listed as attending school, something that would not have been possible less than a decade before. Kennesaw obviously had a thriving Black community after the Civil War. In 1880, members 14
AROUND KENNESAW | February 2022
of the community purchased land from Gaspard T. Carrie, next to the railroad tracks, for use as a new church building. The men were deacons Jack Talley, Sam Bostick and Alexander James Tanner. A small frame church was erected, and the new church opened that year. It was named Sardis Baptist Church. The first preacher of the church was the Rev. W. F. Strickland, and he was assisted by Professor B.J. Graves. The original church building was located behind the present structure on South Main Street, across from Sardis Street, and it was painted white and blue. It was next to a large oak tree, which is still thriving on the church grounds. At an unknown date, a schoolhouse was added to the property, which served Kennesaw’s Black community. Across the street was Grant Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME)
