Dorchester Presbyterian was built in 1854 on four acres donated by B. A. Busbee and at first was used only for summer services. It was the last of three “retreat churches” that grew out of Midway Church, with the others located at Flemington and Walthourville. At that time, Liberty County was a landscape of plantations, with Midway and Sunbury as its most important towns.
+ Continue readingThe idea for Dorchester began in 1843 when Rev. T. S. Winn, a private teacher in the home of Dr. C. C. Jones, suggested creating a village halfway between Midway and Sunbury. The community was laid out with 28 one-acre home sites surrounding a central square for a school and church. The school was completed in 1852, and two years later the sanctuary was built. After the Civil War left the community scattered and impoverished, residents organized their own congregation. Dorchester Presbyterian was officially recognized in 1871 with fourteen members and one ruling elder. For many years, ministers rotated between Dorchester, Walthourville, and Flemington, each church receiving the pastor every third Sunday. Records from 1898 note 49 members in the congregation.
Like many churches of its era, Dorchester included enslaved worshipers before emancipation, who sat in the balcony. Even after the war, African Americans continued to attend until they formed congregations of their own. One local story recalls the Rev. James Thomas Hamilton Waite, who ministered to Black congregants, and whose family crafted the carved wooden hand that once adorned the steeple of the Negro Presbyterian Church in Midway.
Today, Dorchester Presbyterian still holds monthly services. Thanks to the care of its members, this sanctuary and its adjoining academy remain a well-preserved reminder of Liberty County’s deep colonial and religious history.