Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church
Historical marker location:Zion Hill Missionary Baptist church is one of the earliest churches to serve this area's African American community. In the early 1880s, a Freedmen's colony grew here in response to the availability of jobs at a newly opened sawmill. The Rev. George Durden and his congregation, with the assistance of the Rev. A. Venerable, moderator of the Trinity Valley Baptist Association, officially organized Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church in 1881. It was the first black church congregation in Colmesneil. Worship services were held in a log cabin built by the congregation until the early 1900s.
The church has occupied several locations and has served not only as a place of worship, but also as a school for black children. In the early 1990s Zion Hill Missionary Baptist church was moved to a site east of the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks adjacent to the Odd Fellows Hall. In 1933, the church was rebuilt at this site six blocks southwest of its original location.
For over one hundred years Zion Hill Missionary Baptist Church has served the community witht a variety of worship and educational programs and maintained a leadership role in civic activities.