There seems to be limited information on this church in La Grange, Tennessee. It is a historically Black congregation that began in 1913, and this building was constructed in 1925. According to obituaries, the church was active through at least the 1990s. The grounds are cared for, so the church may still hold occasional services.
I recently took a trip to Memphis. Like most trips, I planned a circuitous route using back roads. While plotting my path on Google Maps, I noticed a building identified as the LaGrange Rosenwald School. I immediately put it as a stopping point to photograph.
When I arrived in La Grange, I immediately doubted the providence of this building as a Rosenwald. There are no hallmark windows to bring light into the building, and I wondered if it was a heavily modified building. After doing some research, I could not find any confirmation that this building is a Rosenwald. It was a one-room school named the La Grange School.
Middle Tennessee State University assessed historic Black properties in Fayette County and created an informative storyboard titled “Fayette County: Places, Perspectives: African American Community-building in Tennessee, 1860-1920.” Since they did not include it in the comprehensive report, I believe it was not a Rosenwald school.
(I did update Google Maps to edit the name without Rosenwald.)
According to what I can find, researchers at Middle Tennessee State University were told by community members that this building once served as a fraternal lodge, funeral home, and store for the Black community of La Grange, Tennessee. They later found purchase of land in 1912 by the National Mosaic Templars of America, a Black benevolent organization.
