Camp Zion Missionary Baptist Church

The Rev. Hillary Hooks, formerly a slave on the James E. Winston plantation, organized Camp Zion Baptist Church in 1870. Winston granted land to Camp Zion trustees in 1887. A segment of the membership left and organized Rising Star Baptist Church in 1888. The Camp Zion church structure served as a school, a refuge during floods, and as a Red Cross chapter location during World War I. The Camp Zion Community Cemetery was established on land donated by the Duncan family in 1905. In 1998, the Camp Zion and Rising Star Baptist congregations reunited into a single church family, which continues to include descendants of the former slave families who founded the church. (2000)