Historic Pickett Chapel project receives $250,000 grant | Lebanon

Grants for the Preserving Black Churches projects are competitive, with only 30 historic churches across the US receiving money.

“We’re very blessed to get this grant,” Fay Brown said. “This is the only church in Tennessee to get a grant this year.”

No federal money is used for this grant. Only private foundation funds are being used, according to the Wilson County Black History Committee. The goal of the restoration is to eventually open the Roy Bailey African American Museum and History Center in the chapel.

Pickett Chapel, located at 209 E Market St., was constructed in 1827 by enslaved people on East Market Street and worship services were segregated for the first 30 years. During that time, the Black congregation sat in a small balcony overlooking the pulpit while the white congregation sat on the main floor.

Eventually in 1856, the white congregation moved to a larger building in another part of Lebanon.

In 1866, just two years after the end of the Civil War, 30 freedmen, former slaves, purchased the chapel for $1,500 ($29,774.06 today). Until 1973, 107 years later, Pickett Chapel served as a thriving place of worship and an important community center for the Black community of Wilson County.

All of Market Street became a significant commercial, educational, religious and residential center for Lebanon’s African American community. Despite the economic history, Market Street gets its name from being one of the largest slave markets in Middle Tennessee in the early 1800s.

After the Pickett Chapel congregation moved into the new Pickett-Rucker Church in 1973, the building was used for other purposes. In the 1980s, it was a playhouse.

The historic church, in disrepair at the time and condemned despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977, was purchased in 2007 from local businessman Victor Nixon. The following year is when plans for restoring the building began.

“No one was maintaining the building when it was condemned,” Bob Black, owner of the Capitol Theatre, said.

Restoration of Pickett Chapel is happening in phases. Phase 1 included a grant from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.

Phase 2 is where the money from the National Trust grant will be utilized.

Due to building code standards, stairs resembling those used by Black congregation members to sit in the balcony can not be installed. Instead, a mural of a family waiting to use the stairs will be used to represent that part of the church’s history.

Projected time of completion of the restoration is within two years of receiving the National Trust grant.

“My hope is to have it done by the end of this year,” Mary McAddo Harris, President and Chair of the Wilson County Black History Committee, said.

The Civil Rights era of the 1960s saw Pickett Chapel once again become a historical place for the Wilson County Black community. The church became a location for organizing non-violent protests against school segregation. Demonstrations were modeled after Dr. Martin Luther King’s non-violent resistance style.

Despite the non-violent nature of the demonstrations, Pickett Chapel was threatened with destruction by white segregationists. After the threat, and the actual destruction of a nearby physician’s office belonging to Dr. John Glover by a mob, city leaders took action.

Lebanon Mayor at the time Charles Loyd, along with other city officials, formed a biracial committee which led to integration in Lebanon’s schools.

The chapel is the oldest standing brick building still on the original 1802 lot, and also the oldest still standing church in Lebanon.

Behind the building, the Wilson County Master Gardeners are creating a garden named the “Heritage Peace Garden” in honor of Mary McAdoo Harris. It is a $20,000 project including volunteers, donated materials, and collaboration of the entire community.

Bill Moss, board member of the Wilson County Black History Committee, emphasized the entire restoration project is a labor of the entire community collaborating together to preserve an important part of Lebanon’s history.

The Wilson County Black History Committee will celebrate the legacy of Historic Pickett Chapel Saturday, March 15 from noon to 5 p.m.

Special presentations will be given by participants and special guest Gratia Strother, Tennessee-Western Kentucky United Methodist Church Archivist. Lunch will be served free to attendees. The event is free, although the committee says donations are appreciated. For more information, call Mary Harris at 615-444-9487.