Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Resting along the Montgomery and Robertson County line is the Mt. Zion Baptist Church cemetery, which bears witness to the rich African-American history of Port Royal. Port Royal was established in 1797 as a tobacco hub in middle Tennessee on the banks of the Red River and Sulphur Fork Creek. Mt. Zion Baptist Church was established in 1867, and the land was donated by Dr. Philip Ford Norfleet, a white physician who wanted to help African-Americans. The church deed was recorded in Montgomery County Deed Book 15, page 507, with the purpose of being a place of worship and serving as a school for young African-Americans of the Port Royal community.

Reverend Horace Carr (1812-1877) founded Mt. Zion Baptist Church after the Civil War. Rev. Carr’s wife, Kitty Carr (1815-1904), was born a free person in Virginia and, with the help of friends in Tennessee, maintained her freedom even when people tried to deny it. Her account of events is detailed in the book, Pioneer Colored Christians by Harriet Parks Miller. Perhaps at the convincing and urging of Dr. Norfleet or his father, the Rev. Ambrose Bourne, William Bourne donated a little over an acre of land to Mt. Zion for a cemetery, where the church’s first pastor, Reverend Horace Carr, is buried along with many other members of the community. The original church was destroyed by fire. The current church is located a short drive from the original location and cemetery.