Mount Gilead Church

A community of free people of African descent formed on the Buckingham Mountain in the early 1800s, and by 1834 the community was large enough to organize Mount Gilead as an independent church, and a small log meetinghouse was built on land deeded to the church by Daniel Yeomans, who served as the minister for many years.

In 1852 the congregation replaced the original small log chapel with the present stone church building, constructed of very hard rose quartz and iron-veined stones from the mountain. The African-American population grew quickly in this period, partly due to the settlement of fugitives fleeing north along the Underground Railroad.