Freedom of Assembly
With freedom from slavery came freedom of assembly – particularly to worship, evidenced by the early establishment of the first independent black congregation in 1865. African-American churches, such as Calvary Baptist (1883), were the primary civic and cultural arenas for the black community.
In the 1880-90s, fraternal and social orders extended the black social sphere to this corner of W. Washington Street. The Brothers & Sisters of Love & Charity, a mutual aid society offering life/employment insurance, built their Society Hall. The adjacent Odd Fellows Hall, also two-story, had lower stores that were occupied at times by a grocery, harness shop, carpenter, barber, and multiple restaurants. These businesses, as well as the nearby blacksmith, served as a commercial hub.
A 1904 brick replacement (post-fire) was later sold in halves. The Madison Colored Undertaking Company (later Mapp Funeral Home) anchored the west end, and the east end housed a myriad of black-owned enterprises, most notably the Brown Stock Co. and Morgan County NAACP offices.
Marker is at the intersection of Washington Street (Georgia Route 83) and Academy Street, on the left when traveling north on Washington Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
