Historical Black Churches in Asheville

Churches and schools have always been vital public institutions in Black communities. Church picnics, suppers, and food and clothing drives foster community support. While Jim Crow laws and segregation denied Black citizens equal rights, church leaders advanced civil rights through sermons, voter registration drives, and interdenominational collaboration.

Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church was founded in 1880 by Reverend Robert Rumley. Its second minister, J.R. Nelson, negotiated to purchase property for a new church at the corner of Spruce and Eagle streets. In 1919, master brick mason James Vester Miller, a formerly enslaved man, completed the building for the congregation.

Early churches with Black congregants founded in Asheville:

• 1832: Trinity Chapel (now St. Matthias Episcopal Church)
• 1867: Nazareth First Baptist Church
• 1868: Hopkins Chapel AME Zion Church
• 1880: Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church
• 1887: Berry Temple United Methodist Church & St. James AME Church
• 1891: Calvary Presbyterian Church
• 1898: Rock Hill Missionary Baptist Church