Falls of the Tar Church
Nash County, Nash County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Falls Of The Tar Church. Constituted as Particular Baptist, 1757; Rev. John Moore & Joshua Lawrence among early ministers. Now Primitive Baptist.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Constituted in 1757 as a Particular (Calvinist) Baptist congregation, this church took root in the colonial backcountry along the Tar River, served in its early years by ministers including John Moore and Joshua Lawrence. Over time it became a Primitive Baptist congregation, part of the movement that resisted the missionary and organizational innovations of the 19th century.
Why it matters
Frontier Baptist congregations like this one were among the most vigorous religious communities of colonial and early-republic North Carolina, shaping the region's independent religious culture.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · John Moore
- · Joshua Lawrence
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Anna Easter Brown 1879–1957
Edgecombe County, NC
In 1908 Anna Easter Brown helped found Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first Greek-letter sorority established by and for African American women, born at Howard University as Black students built their own institutions of leadership and service. A history teacher by profession, Brown embodied the era's belief that education and organization were paths to uplift. Her grave lies a quarter mile east.
Brick School
Edgecombe County, NC
Established in 1895 through the philanthropy of Mrs. Joseph K. Brick, the Brick School was founded to educate African Americans in an era of rigid segregation and scarce opportunity. It grew into a junior college by 1926 before closing in 1933, and its buildings once stood on this ground.
John Spencer Bassett
Tarboro, NC
John Spencer Bassett was a historian who taught at Trinity College—now Duke University—from 1894 to 1906 and later served as secretary of the American Historical Association from 1919 to 1928. A scholar of the American South, he was born here in Tarboro.
W. L. Saunders
Tarboro, NC
William L. Saunders wore many hats in 19th-century North Carolina: Confederate colonel, historian who edited the monumental "Colonial Records of North Carolina," and secretary of state from 1879 to 1891. His scholarly editing preserved the documentary record of the colony's earliest history. His grave lies four blocks east of this marker in Tarboro.