Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church — Bishopville, South Carolina

The historic Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church in the English Crossroads area of Bishopville was constructed in 1911. It is the fourth sanctuary to serve its congregation, which was established in 1809.

Its historical marker (shown lower on this page) reads, “This church was established in 1809. Its first building, a frame church, was built 1.5 mi. N on Broad Branch. The congregation moved to this site in 1829 and built a second church, also a frame building, in the 1830s. Mt. Zion’s longest serving minister, Rev. William M. Reid, was the pastor here from 1833 to 1872. The cemetery here dates from 1830, and the session house was built in 1851. A third frame church, built in 1855, burned in 1910. The present Neo-Classical Revival brick church, designed by the firm of Wilson & Sompayrac, was built in 1911.”

Mt. Zion – Session House

Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church and Session House – National Register

Both Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church and the Mt. Zion Session House are listed in the National Register of Historic Places:

This Neo-Classical building, constructed in 1911, is an excellent and unusual example of an early twentieth century sanctuary in rural eastern South Carolina and one of the many designs by the architectural firm of Wilson & Sompayrac of Columbia, the most successful firm in the state during the first two decades of the century. Its principals were Charles Coker Wilson and Edwin Douglas Sompayrac.

Directly to the rear of the church building is a small, one-story lateral-gabled frame building, constructed in 1851 as Mt. Zion’s Session House. The nominated acreage also contains a large cemetery containing graves of church members dating from ca. 1830 to the present.

Mt. Zion Presbyterian Church Map

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