Campbellsville Baptist Church
Campbellsville, Taylor County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Campbellsville Baptist Church. Taylor County's oldest congregation began with Pitman Creek, organized 1791, and Robinson Creek, founded by 1793. They combined to form the "Church Pitman," which became Campbellsville Baptist Church, 1852, located on No. Columbia Ave. Frame building there was used by court during the Civil War after Confederates burned the courthouse. Presented by Campbellsville Baptist Church. (Reverse) Campbellsville Baptist Church - In 1889, Shuttleworth Memorial Baptist Church, now the Library, replaced 1852 building. In 1915-1916, a church with domed ceiling and four walls of stained glass windows was erected; destroyed by fire, 1962. The present Greek Revival edifice was erected in 1963. Of group's origin, only Pitman and Robinson church cemeteries still remain. Presented by Campbellsville Baptist Church.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Taylor County's oldest congregation grew from the Pitman Creek (1791) and Robinson Creek (by 1793) churches, which merged and took the Campbellsville name in 1852. During the Civil War the frame meetinghouse served as a courtroom after Confederates burned the county courthouse. A series of later buildings—one lost to fire in 1962—led to the present Greek Revival edifice of 1963.
Why it matters
The congregation carries the story of Baptist faith on the Kentucky frontier and of a community that kept order through the upheavals of the Civil War.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related events
- · Burning of the Taylor County courthouse
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Campbellsville Courthouse Burned
Campbellsville, KY
On Christmas Day 1864, the courthouse at Campbellsville went up in flames as Confederate General Hylan B. Lyon swept through Kentucky. Leading a force that began at 800 men, Lyon aimed to enforce the Confederate draft and pull Union attention away from Nashville, burning seven courthouses that federal troops had been using in just 23 days. Desertions thinned his ranks to 250 before he slipped out of the state in early January.
Hart County
Munfordville, KY
Formed in 1819 from Hardin and Barren counties, Hart County was home to the Buckner family. Simon Bolivar Buckner, a West Point graduate and Mexican War captain, became a Confederate general and later governor of Kentucky; his son, Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., commanded the U.S. Tenth Army and was killed on Okinawa in 1945. Both rest in the Frankfort Cemetery.
Glen Lily — Birthplace of Simon B. Buckner
Munfordville, KY
Built between 1819 and 1822 by Colonel Aylette Hartswell Buckner, Glen Lily was in 1823 the birthplace of Simon Bolivar Buckner. He grew up to command Confederate forces in the Civil War, famously surrendering Fort Donelson in 1862. Buckner later returned to public life as governor of Kentucky from 1887 to 1891 and, in 1896, ran as a candidate for vice president.
Confederates at Bardstown
Bardstown, KY
In the autumn of 1862, the Confederate invasion of Kentucky swept through Bardstown, where General Braxton Bragg's army of some 28,000 men camped for nearly two weeks before marching toward the pivotal Battle of Perryville. The town saw the Confederacy again that winter and the next summer, as cavalry raider John Hunt Morgan camped and skirmished nearby. A night-long stand by a handful of Union cavalrymen in July 1863 briefly delayed one of his raids.