(no audio) (melancholy orchestral music) ("Amazing Grace") - [Sonny] In the foothills of North Georgia, lies the little town of Clarksville in Habersham County.

("Amazing Grace") This tranquil setting was unique in the early 1800s before the Civil War.

It was, in fact, a summer getaway for the landed gentry of the coast.

("Amazing Grace") These wealthy landowners were not rural Baptists or Methodists.

They were Episcopalians or Presbyterians, city dwellers who appreciated fine houses, clothes, and architecture.

Many of these descendants are still here.

("Amazing Grace") - When I look at the glass and the windows, it takes me way back.

(chuckles) ("Amazing Grace") There's something about the distortion of the outside looking through the, is it hand-blown glass?

- Mm-hm, hand-blown.

- Which many of the panes still are that ("Amazing Grace") reminds me because kind of the the sacredness of this place.

(carriage squeaking) ("Amazing Grace") ("Amazing Grace") - [Sonny] The countryside in this part of Georgia is beautiful, but the main benefit for these coastal dwellers was the climate, a refuge from the heat, the insects, and the many diseases that were rampant in the summer months.

Grace Episcopal Church in the little town of Clarksville emerged as the first major resort in North Georgia.

It was there to serve these visitors and the slaves they brought with them.

("Amazing Grace") ("Amazing Grace" continues) ("Amazing Grace" continues) ("Amazing Grace" continues) ("Amazing Grace" continues) Grace Episcopal, built in 1839, is the second oldest Episcopal church building in Georgia, and it survives virtually intact.

("Amazing Grace") The church is an unusual example of religious architecture for rural Georgia.

- Organized in 1839, near the Renaissance community of Clarksville, Georgia, Grace Calvary Episcopal is a beautiful example of Greek Revival architecture.

- [Sonny] This design was common in New England, but not in rural Georgia.

It was built during the presidency of Martin Van Buren, and the architect was his cousin.

- Well, it was designed by Jarvis Van Buren, who designed many of the summer homes for the people that came up from the coastal areas.

("Amazing Grace") ("Amazing Grace" continues) - The church was constructed by slave hands, and there is a slave gallery behind me.

Right now, it's the choir loft.

I can't find a lot of information about the slave history of the place.

I would love to be able to find the names of the men who built this place and put 'em on a plaque somewhere.

("Amazing Grace")' - [Sonny] The quality of the craftsmanship in these interior details is remarkable.

("Amazing Grace") - We also have a cemetery that has some unmarked graves that we suspect might be some of those servants as well, but there's just no recorded history about that, so a lot of it is just story, folklore, if you will.

It's hard to find out about that history.

I don't think it's something that people recorded a lot 'cause probably they weren't incredibly proud about it.

The Episcopal church came out of England.

We were Anglicans.

We came over with the colonists, and so we were part of the Church of England.

When the Revolutionary War came along, a lotta clergy left because part of our ordination vows were loyalty to God and to the king or the queen.

And so a lot of Episcopal, or Anglican clergy left and went back to England.

♪ I will walk in he presence of our lord ♪ ♪ In the land of the living ♪ - Talk about the organ, which we haven't talked about.

It's the longest living organ in the state, I believe.

It's been up in the balcony for most of its life, but for part of its life, it was down here to the right side of the altar and the rail over there.

And there's a story that at one time, they had a priest who would preach the sermon, and then he would jump over the rail and play the organ, that he was both the priest in the organist.

And I guess after he left, they went ahead and put it back up in the balcony.

(organ liturgical music) When Barbara Brown Taylor was here and was discovered as one of the greatest preachers in the English-speaking world, and the story is that we had tour buses coming and going on Sunday morning, and they had up to four, maybe even five services on a Sunday morning so that they could accommodate all the people coming and going.

So it's had a very varied history.

The building almost fell in on itself at one point and was jacked up on lumber chain so that they could redo the foundation.

It was painted for a movie that they filmed up here.

- [Sonny] In 1951, a famous movie was shot in this part of Georgia, starring William Lundigan and Susan Hayward.

Local folks are still talking about it.

- John had just graduated from Georgia in drama, and he had a small part in the movie.

And so he was there, and he took pictures as they were making the movies.

And later, he actually did a painting of a scene from the movie.

- The main thing I would say about this building it it's got its pros and cons.

It really is too small for us, and every now and then, this congregation talks about building something that will hold more people.

But the truth is that this little building has prayers in the cells of the wood and in the plaster, and it's just a holy place, and it's hard to think about building something new where we would worship and walking out of this place that has been so holy for so long.

(mellow bluegrass music) - [Sonny] In northeast Warren County, lies Fountain Campground, a very special part of Georgia's early religious history.

♪ You better get ready ♪ - [Sonny] After the American Revolution, the Protestant religious movement, referred to as the Second Great Awakening, swept across the new nation and especially so in the South.

It fueled the growth of Christian congregations all across Georgia, but especially so for the Methodists.

An outgrowth of this movement was the camp meeting ground, resulting in the establishment of many of these special meeting places across the state.

Fountain Campground is one of the earliest of these and still going strong.

♪ Sinner must die ♪ ♪ I thought I heard all the preachers say ♪ ♪ The time's a coming when the sinner must die ♪ ♪ You better get down on your knees and pray ♪ ♪ The time's a coming when the sinner must die ♪ ♪ Oh sinner you better get ready ♪ ♪ Oh you better get ready hallelujah ♪ ♪ Sinner you better get ready ♪ ♪ The time's a coming ♪ - From what I understand, Fountain Campground was established back in the early 1800s, and it was back then that people came to Fountain Campground from the surrounding counties late in the summer, and they would come here for camp meeting for religious purposes.

And from what I understand, at any given time, there would be thousands of people up here at camp meeting, and they would come, and when you think about it, they would come in their wagons.

They'd have to bring their food with them, their cows, their chickens, their hogs, and bless the women's hearts, they'd have to wear them long, old dresses.

And they would come in their wagons, bring their families, and they would camp here, and they would have religious services all day, I think, on into the night, from what I understand.

(upbeat bluegrass music) ♪ Are you washed in the blood ♪ ♪ In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb ♪ - I'll tell you something about when we first started coming.

We didn't have water.

we didn't have running water.

We had to get water from the spring and haul it up.

So we used less water than we do now.

(laughing) And, of course, we didn't have bath houses either.

So we had to make do with what we had.

- I'm thankful for the people that came before us that they kept the campground going.

There were times that they were not sure that the campground would keep going because in the bylaws, it says you have to have camp meeting once a year.

And I'm not sure which war, but I've always heard during one of the wars, Mr. Hunt Dent had to come up here.

World War II?

That he had to come up here just for a few days so that we could keep the campground going.

And I do appreciate that so much because I brought my children and my grandchildren.

♪ Blood of the lamb ♪ - My aunt used to tell the story of her and her family coming and how people would do.

They would come, and they would come on wagons and bring the stuff in and bring the cows so they could have milk, bring the chicken so they could have eggs, and just all kinda things you wouldn't think about nowadays, but that's the way it was back then.

- [Sonny] The very earliest campgrounds were held outdoors with attendees coming from miles around and camping on the ground.

Over time, the meeting sites came to be distinguished by a particular type of architecture, involving a large open tabernacle surrounded by permanent structures called tents.

These tents are owned and maintained by the families who often hand them down from generation to generation.

A few compromises and conveniences have been introduced, such as running water and electricity, but tradition runs deep here, and family fellowship in this sacred place is taken very seriously.

- I'm here at Fountain Campground today in Warren County, just a few miles south of Washington, and it was established in 1822.

A campground is a place where people would gather each year to worship, usually in August to September.

That was called the laying by time.

Farmers didn't have a lot to do.

They had a little extra time, and that was the season of camp meetings, protracted meetings, and revivals.

This is the main meeting hall here.

It is a building that has open sides.

It's got a tin roof.

Originally, would've had a shingle roof.

Hand-hewn timbers put together, held together by pegs.

It's quite a structure, and it would, in August, in October, give relief from the sun, and a little air coming through would give some relief from the heat.

Also, a part of the campgrounds were the tents.

Originally, these were canvas tents that people would erect, and then later they built wooden structures, log structures, but they still called 'em tents.

And this is where a lot of the people would stay during the great camp meetings each year.

The camp meetings were a part of the Second Great Awakening, a series of revivals that spread across America following the Revolution.

These revival meetings began in 1801 in Kentucky and would come as waves across the whole United States.

This was almost like a circus atmosphere.

In fact, a lotta things took place here that were were not necessarily very religious.

People would pick pockets.

Horses were stolen.

Sometimes slaves would run away.

It was also a a time where some people came more for sport and entertainment.

They would call out the preacher and do cat calls.

He'd call 'em down, and sometimes they actually had to call the law in to try to settle people down because they got that rowdy.

One observer said that they had hoped that at a lotta these meetings, there would be as many conversions as conceptions.

- [Sonny] For almost 200 years, families have enjoyed the campground experience while maintaining the facilities and honoring the traditions.

History truly lives in this place.

In Eastern Georgia, lies Taliaferro County, formed as Georgia' 69th county in 1825.

It is the least populated county in the state.

This was king cotton country in the early 19th century and remained so for over 100 years.

At the time of the Civil War, there were 5,000 residents engaged mostly in cotton production.

That increased to a peak of 8,000 in 1920.

But the decline of agriculture in general and the blight of the boll weevil precipitated a large migration to the North in search of a better life.

Taliaferro County population today is less than 2,000.

♪ Let it shine on me ♪ - [Sonny] Antioch Baptist Church, built in 1888 by freed slaves and their children, sits in a beautiful rural location on Highway 22, not far from the county seat of Crawfordville.

The church ceased to have regular services in the 1970s, but it still has a faithful following led by the son of the last active church deacon, George Turner.

♪ Shine on me ♪ - My father talked a lot about his family.

In fact, very little was written, and when he and his brothers and sisters would get together on Sunday evenings, it was a storytelling time because we didn't have television or any other electronic entertainment.

And they would talk about their brother, Jake, who was lynched in 1915, and he's buried out there in the graveyard.

He talked about the ministers who helped to found this church, and some of them are buried out front of the church.

♪ Let your light from the lighthouse ♪ ♪ Shine on me ♪ ♪ Shine on oh let it shine on ♪ - Descendants from many of the slave plantations around here used to worship at a church about 15, 12 or 15 miles south of here called New Hope Powelton, and New Hope Powelton, 12 or 15 miles is not far away, but to get 12 or 15 miles on horse and buggy was a long way on Saturday and Sunday to go to worship.

And members of that church who lived primarily in this area decided to pull away from the Powelton New Hope Church and form their own church.

♪ There is work to do ♪ ♪ Yes Lord ♪ ♪ I took the master's hand ♪ ♪ Yes Lord ♪ ♪ And I joined the Christian band ♪ ♪ Yes Lord ♪ ♪ I'm on the battlefield for my Lord ♪ ♪ I was alone and idle ♪ ♪ Yes Lord ♪ - And there's a family here called the Veazey family, and they were able to convince the Veazey family to donate two acres of land for the church, and they were able to scrape together enough money to buy two acres.

So they acquired four acres of land, and who the architect is, I do not know, but they were able to build this church.

Now, there's more to the story.

I'm gonna have to mix part of my family's story with part of the church story.

My uncle, Jake, his name was C. C. They called him Jake.

He was born, I believe, in 1898.

He got into an altercation with the foreman of the sawmill, and somehow late that evening, everyone heard a shotgun blast, and they found the body of the foreman.

And Uncle Jake and two other were accused of committing the murder, and they were eventually lynched for it.

Now, I said that to say that part of the livelihood in this area or the work that they were able to find was either farming or working on the sawmill.

And there was a saw mill probably about, from what my dad tells me, about two or three miles from here.

And a lotta the lumber you see here was probably hewn or sawed or laid out at that particular facility.

So it's all locally grown.

Now, the detail that you see in some of the panels on the wall, whether that came from that mill or not, I don't know.

But I do know that around here, we do have what they call the planer mills, and the planer mills were able to turn out some fine tongue and groove wood for flooring for the mill.

And I highly suspect that 90% of what you see in this church was locally grown, locally planed at the mills around this area.

And many other members of this church, in all likelihood, worked at that mill.

♪ Promised Him that I would serve Him 'til I die ♪ ♪ Yes I'm on the battlefield for my Lord ♪ ♪ Mm everybody talk about ♪ - Now, when it came to singing and the order of service, we had Sunday school, and then we would move into the devotional service, and that would be opened with the prayer and the raising of the hymn.

Now, for us, raising of hymn was a matter of taking a hymnal, although we knew the words to it, we still had to read the first two lines of the hymn, and it was read with a melody.

It was like "A charge to keep I have, a never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky."

And then it would come back with a long line out version of it like one syllable would probably take eight beats or more, like ♪ Hey ♪ ♪ Ah ♪ It was religious, and it was invoking a spirit.

It was a spiritual, and you'll find that in mostly every religion.

They all have a chant.

(mellow blues guitar music) ♪ Wished I was in heaven sitting down ♪ ♪ Oh angel oh my ♪ ♪ Wished I was ♪ (mellow blues guitar music) ♪ Wished I was in heaven ♪ - And for those who had encountered hardship all week long, all month long, to invoke that spirit, I think is what caused the euphoric explosion and the shouting, when they would speak of "A charge to keep I have, a never dying soul to save and fit it for the sky."

We do want to bring it back to a state that we can use it at least quarterly for service because every year the fourth Sunday in August, we have what we call a homecoming at this church, and that's been going on probably since the church has been here.

And we raise funds to take care of the grave site and the yard, but when it comes to restoring the church, we just don't see how we could raise the funds to get it done.

And I'm just grateful for people who call me to find out how the effort is going, and that gets me back in gear again.

And just somewhere out of the blue, how it happened, I really don't know, but a gentleman named Sonny Seals, and George Hart called me and said they wanted to meet me here and talk about the church because they were in the process of doing of writing the book on historical churches throughout Georgia, and Antioch had caught their attention.

♪ A wretch like me ♪ - "Don't let your daddy's church fall down," and we kept looking at it, and not being architects, we didn't know exactly what had to be done, but we knew it would take a lot.

There's just so much we've gotta do.

- [Sonny] It has been over 40 years since the church had regular services, but there's still a loving congregation of families who wanna save it.

♪ But now I see ♪ (mellow blues guitar music) (mellow blues guitar music continues)