Some Local History On The Tuscanooga Baptist Church

Article by Mary Helen Myers

On November 1,  Tuscanooga Baptist Church celebrated “Homecoming Day.”  Rev. Jerry Riggs was the morning’s guest speaker. Jerry, grandson of former pastor James Madison, lives in Tifton, Georgia, where he is pastor of the Tifton Missionary Baptist Church.

An afternoon service was held where Rev. Madison spoke briefly.  Now age 87, and in very poor health, Rev. Madison pastored the Tuscanooga Baptist Church for 50 years, first arriving in 1959.  Still living in the church parsonage, the Madisons made headline news last January when tornado-like winds ripped through the community completely destroying the parsonage.  Moving the house off its foundation, wife Mary Lou was thrown from the bed across the room suffering only minor injuries.  Pastor Madison escaped unharmed.  The roof was completely blown off the house and devastating damage occurred inside the home.  A brand new house now sits where the old one once stood.  The church family insists that the Madisons remain living in the new parsonage as long as they desire.

A definite date cannot be determined for the founding of Tuscanooga Baptist Church.  It is known that wagon trains bringing in settlers were arriving in the area as early as 1851.  Stories passed down through local families state that a log cabin, which served as both church and school, once stood where the current church building now stands. It is said that the first structure was thought to have been built during Civil War days or shortly thereafter.  It was the one-room log structure that served as both church and school.

In 1897, separate structures were built; a wooden building for the church and one for the school.  The church building served worshipers until a storm swept through in 1919, demolishing the church building.  Worshipers then scattered to various locations to attend church services for the next ten years.

In 1929, the wish for holding church services once again at Tuscanooga was revived.  For the next four years, the locals came together and sat on boards laid across orange boxes under the open sky.

In 1933, the local farmers, while still in the midst of the Great Depression, hitched up their wagons and headed for the cypress swamps, cutting down timbers.  Soon an open-air building, with poles holding up a shingled roof, was erected.  A 3 ft. high banister was built around the perimeter to keep out the wild hogs and cows.   With a sawdust floor, worshipers again sat on boards laid across boxes.  Here people gathered for worship for the next 15 years.

In 1944, a building fund began with hopes of being able to erect a block building sometime in the future.  On November 20, 1949, the church officially observed “Dedication Day” of their new small block building and declared it to be a “Homecoming Day.”  Part of this original building still remains today as part of the much larger facility which now serves the growing congregation.  Two services are held each Sunday morning.

November is always a special time for the church family as it reminds them of the historical significance of the Tuscanooga Baptist Church and how it has held high the Work of Jesus Christ in Southwest Lake County through the years.  It is interesting to note that the current pastor, Casey Ferguson, who was raised in Tuscanooga Baptist Church, is the Great Great Great Grandson of Jordan Watson who is said to be the first regular pastor of the church, moving to the Tuscanooga community, in 1870, from Georgia.  Prior to that, circuit-riding preachers were known to pass through the community to preach.  Among them was Daniel Sloan, reported to be the first resident of what would later become Groveland.