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Mt. Zion Church was organized in 1830, making it
one of the oldest churches in Macon County.
The deed was signed on September 19, 1830, from The first building was made from hand hewn logs and also used as a school. It was destroyed by fire in the 1860’s and a frame building was constructed on the site in 1867. March 24, 1894, Church Conference, – J.C. Weaver, C. P. Conley and January 30, 1895, Church Conference Record – J.C. Weaver reported, “a subscription of $800.00 has been raised to build a new church. B. W. Dobson said in his opinion part of this could not be collected and moved to cover the old house. Motion carried. It was then moved that the house be covered with two foot boards. Motion carried.” In 1909 construction began on the new church. Zebulon Conley was in charge of the project and J.C. Weaver, C. W. Slagle and F. H. Nolen were building committee members. A.B. Slagle made the altar rail and newel posts in his furniture shop and Rev. Jesse Stalcup designed the vestibule and steeple. Dedication of the building was November 14, 1909. Rev. A. W. Jacobs was the pastor and Rev. R. M. Taylor was the Presiding Elder. The church, which stood near a very steep bank near Highway 64, was moved to a new foundation in 1950. At that time a basement was dug to house a furnace. Other improvements included a new floor for the sanctuary, a new roof and three Sunday school rooms. Church services were held in Sunday school rooms during replacement of the walls with concrete block and installation of windows of antique glass. Mr. Robert Harris, an Atlanta architect who owned a summer home on Wayah, was instrumental in getting both the furnace and the windows. There was one thing that did not change, the beautiful vestibule and steeple designed by Rev. Jesse Stalcup was left intact. The new building was dedicated while Rev. Robert Goldston was pastor and Rev. Frank Smathers was District Superintendent. The building was not the only thing that changed during these years, the name also changed. The church organized in 1830 was Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church. At General Conference in 1844, the Methodist Episcopal Church was divided over the slavery issue. A plan of separation was adopted and the Methodist Episcopal Church South was created. The name remained Mt. Zion Methodist Episcopal Church South until 1939 when the union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the Methodist Episcopal Church South and the Methodist Protestant Church occurred and Mt. Zion Methodist became the official name. Originally Mt. Zion was on the Franklin Circuit of the Holston Conference and the circuit rider promised regular services four times a year. For a time two ministers served all the Methodist Churches in Macon County. According to church records, March 14, 1894, the first church conference was held at Mt. Zion Church Macon Circuit, Franklin District, WNC Conference. By 1917 it had changed to Waynesville District of WNC Conference. In 1945 Mt. Zion was on the Macon Circuit with a total of nine churches. Services were held twice a month, often in the afternoon. 1946 saw a reorganization with Maidens Chapel, Gillespie Chapel and Mt. Zion Church forming the West Macon Circuit. Later Gillespie was closed and Louisa Chapel came on the West Macon Circuit. All these changes in name occurred by Mt. Zion Church was on the same site, blessed with countless faithful members, carrying on the work of the church. Although preaching services were not held every Sunday, Sunday school was held on a regular basis, weather permitting. The Presbyterian Church operated Maxwell Home for boys in the Community from 1912 to 1932. During this period there was an active Community Missionary Society, composed of about equal members from Maxwell Memorial Presbyterian Church, Mt. Hope Baptist Church and Mt. Zion Methodist Church. One of their main projects was to sew and patch for the boys at Maxwell Home. Rev. C. B. Yeargan was superintendent at the home when it opened and after serving other appointments he retired to a home near Mt. Zion. He was active in the church, preaching on occasion and teaching the adult Sunday school class. Another Presbyterian Minister, Rev. Stuart Crockett, was the last Superintendent at Maxwell Home. He remained in the Cartoogechaye Community after retirement conducting devotions for Sunday School and often preaching for the Mt. Zion Congregation. Mt. Zion stood across the highway from Maxwell Memorial Presbyterian Church and they were known as the “Double Churches”. When services were held in one church and not in the other the congregations would join for worship. When construction was being done on one church they would meet in the other’s building. A history of Mt. Zion would not be complete without mentioning the cemetery which is still in use and known as Mt. Zion Cemetery. This has truly been a community burial place. Surveys have been made but it is very difficult to complete because many graves were marked with field stones and no name. Rev. Crockett and his son, Taylor, each gave additional land for the cemetery. Taylor was buried close to the church at a site that overlooks the Crockett home. Names have changed, not only of the church but of the members. Many ministers have come and gone, The time came for another change. In 1967 Carson Chapel and Mt. Zion voted to merge into a new congregation and so the history of Mt. Zion Church ended and Memorial United Methodist Church began.
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