ExploreSouthernHistory.com - Historic Churches of Columbia, Alabama
ExploreSouthernHistory.com - Historic Churches of Columbia, Alabama
Columbia Methodist Episcopal Church
Originally established in a one-room "preaching
house," Columbia's Methodist Episcopal Church,
South, was founded in around 1832.
Columbia Baptist Church
Established when an older
church split in 1835, the
historic church has served
Columbia for more than 175
years.
Historic Churches of Columbia, Alabama
Columbia Baptist Church
Columbia Methodist Church
The historic congregation
grew from the efforts of early
Methodist circuit riders who
began preaching in Columbia
as early as the 1820s.
Copyright 2011 by Dale Cox
All rights reserved.
Established in 1835
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Columbia Baptist Church
A lasting memorial to early Baptist efforts in the
Wiregrass area of Alabama, the church was
founded by six members in 1835.
Columbia Methodist Episcopal
Established in 1832
Established in 1835 when six members
broke away from the older Omussee Baptist
Church in a dispute over missions, the
Columbia Baptist Church is one of the oldest
Baptist congregations in Southwest Alabama.

Rev. Edmund Talbot, its first pastor, not only
preached but also donated the land on which
the original church was built. That site is now
within the nearby Columbia Cemetery.

The church became part of the Bethel
Association of Georgia in 1839 and grew with
the town as paddlewheel riverboats brought
commerce and people to the Columbia
landings. The original church was replaced
with a larger structure in 1859. That
sanctuary lasted through the Civil War.

The current brick structure was built in 1885
and has housed the congregation for more
than 125 years. The church was one of the
founding members of the Columbia Baptist
Association, which was established in 1885 -
the same year as the construction of the
present sanctuary.

A historical marker placed in 1990 by the
church and the Historic Chattahoochee
Commission now stands in front of the
sanctuary. The church is located on North
Main Street in Columbia, Alabama.
Early Methodist circuit riders first came into
the Wiregrass area in around 1820 and
throughout that decade were active in the
growing community of Columbia. Their
efforts took permanent root in 1835 with the
founding of Columbia Methodist Episcopal
Church, South.

The original one-room wooden structure
stood about two blocks west of the current
sanctuary site. That building served local
Methodists through the turbulent years of the
Civil War.

When prosperity returned after the war and
Columbia boomed, the Methodist church
grew with it. The present structure - originally
of wood frame design - was built in 1891 at a
cost of $2000. The building was bricked in
1949 and expansions were added in 1956
and 1979.

The church stands at 108 East Church Street
in Columbia. The historical marker on the
front lawn detailing its history was placed by
the church, the Historic Chattahoochee
Commission and S.A. & Gerry Williams.