There isn’t much information on this church. A historic resources survey lists the build date as 1906, but there isn’t additional information included. Newspaper archives show Rural Hill, near Bottsford, existed as early as 1889. There are references to Rural Hill Church in The Dawson News. FindAGrave lists a cemetery with that name, but it is not on the church’s property but a mile or so away. I will update the post if I learn more information about it.
Founded in 1913, Archery sits on the Webster and Sumter county lines, not far from Plains, Georgia. A historic Black community, it was named for the Sublime Order of Archery, an AME Church relief fund that helped Black families. Bishop William Decker Johnson, Supreme Archer and organizer of the order, moved to the area to start a school and helped build the community.
The community had an AME church, school, and store. Twenty-seven families called Archery, Georgia home. Former President Jimmy Carter lived in Archery for a few years as a child. His boyhood home and family farm is just down the road between Archery and Plains.
I often go down rabbit holes looking for information. This can mean looking at random public domain books and reports. I decided to start sharing some of the images I find. This image is from the 1921 Fiftieth Annual Report of the Department of Education to the General Assembly of the State of Georgia.
I believe this school is the Greenfield Academy, and that part of it is still standing according to Google Street View.
