MOUNT HOPEWELL BAPTIST CHURCH: Sometime after the Civil War this African-American church was established when a white landowner, Elias Inman, allowed a brush arbor to be constructed on his land to be used for worship by a number of blacks. Within a short time a small frame building was built on the site that is now on Canupp Road (then the Chester Road). The only visible remains of this meetinghouse are the corner pillars of fieldstones. The area measures approximately twenty-five by forty-five feet. In 1880, Mr. Inman sold several acres on what is now Highway 49 (near the York-Chester County line) to the Hopewell congregation. On the original site is the old cemetery containing 200 to 250 graves, of which about twenty are marked.
MOUNT PLEASANT GROVE CHURCH: This African-American Presbyterian Church was commonly known as “Pleasant Grove” or “Mount Pleasant.” Located on the north side of Quail Hollow Road, and was established sometime toward the end of the nineteenth century (some say not until 1910). It is supposed Reverend Lewis Tigler who was the pastor of the congregation gave the land for this church. An earlier investigation of the area sited the remains of another building measuring twenty feet by thirty feet. The Mount Pleasant School was in association with this church. Some of the teachers were Mr. Van Buren, Mrs. Heddy Pendergrass and Miss Beulah Tigler. It was reported that the teachers often boarded at the home of William L. and Elmira Powell until 1932 when the school was discontinued. While a small cemetery is on the site, a larger one is about a quarter of a mile away, and probably marks the location of an earlier church. Rev. Lewis Tigler (b. 1851 in SC married Ellen___. The parents of Tigler were Isaac Tigler (1810 Maryland) and Hannah ___ (1816 Virginia.).
Please enjoy this structure and all those listed in Roots and Recall. But remember each is private property. So view them from a distance or from a public area such as the sidewalk or public road.
Do you have information to share and preserve? Family, school, church, or other older photos and stories are welcome. Send them digitally through the “Share Your Story” link, so they too might be posted on Roots and Recall.
Thanks!
User comments always welcome - please post at the bottom of this page.
Share Your Comments & Feedback: