This Neoclassical Revival, known as the Walter Fitzgerald house, was built in 1914 after a 1913 tornado leveled most of the the town of Omaha. The town of Omaha was originally named Fitzgerald after being named after the Fitzgerald family, one of the founding families. At the time, they didn’t know there was another Fitzgerald in Ben Hill County, so they had to rename their town. Town legend is that town leaders asked a visitor what to name it, and the visitor said to name it after Omaha, Nebraska.
Founded in 1886 in a bush arbor, the Green Grove Missionary Baptist Church was named because of the year-round green forest that surrounded the church. Perry Hudson, Louis Cherry, and Isaac Shorter founded the church. By 1898, the church began to host school in the church building. Unfortunately, the church was destroyed by a tornado in 1919.
By 1920, the church was rebuilt on land given by Heddy York. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by fire a mere four years later. Another church was built and opened by 1927. In 1937, a school built and used by white schoolchildren was no longer used. Known as the Wesley Chapel School, the building was moved and renamed the Green Grove School. It still stands today. The school was used until 1958, when schools were closed for consolidation.
The church is still active. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
Source- Willie Marie Porter’s bookA Grateful People: An Historical Account of the Founding of a Community
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