Jackson Chapel AME Church was the first church built by freedmen in Wilkes County in 1867. The building has remained largely unchanged in its 150-plus-year history, although the windows were replaced at one point.

The church has close ties to the brothers Bishop Wesley John (founder of Big Bethel AME and Morris Brown College) and Reverend William Gaines. Both were enslaved by Robert Toombs and lived in Wilkes County. The Bishop and the Reverend were responsible for founding AME churches all across Georgia. Gaines’ descendants still attend the church today.