Halfway between Eulonia and Crescent, Georgia, is the Briar Patch Community. You will find one of the few remaining praise houses left along the coast.

Praise houses were small structures on plantations where enslaved people worshipped. They are associated with the Gullah-Geechee culture. Ty Moody (2023) writes on the South Carolina ETV website, “Praise houses were erected as a place of worship on the plantation, but the real intentions were to keep enslaved Africans from mingling with others on different plantations. Despite the controlled measures, the praise house become the center of the community for enslaved Africans and where freedom was most experienced.”

Praise houses were erected as a place of worship on the plantation, but the real intentions were to keep enslaved Africans from mingling with others on different plantations. Despite the controlled measures, the praise house become the center of the community for enslaved Africans and where freedom was most experienced.-Ty Moody

Worshippers often participated in “ring shouts,” a shuffling or stomping movement in a circle while praying and clapping hands. The McIntosh Ring Shouters was founded by community members in Briar Patch. It was believed that the practice of ring shouting was lost until the group was discovered in 1980.

Tied to the Mt Calvary Baptist Church, the Bolden Home Lodge was built in the 1920s. When my friends and I arrived to photograph the praise hoise, we met someone who shared that his great grandfather, Reverend Nathan Palmer, helped build it. Reverend Palmer was an integral member of creating the community of Briar Patch.

Recommended reading:

The McIntosh Shouters’ website

A write-up by the Smithsonian Institute with photos of the Bolden Home Lodge