The Evergreen Congregational Church and School is a cornerstone of the rural African American community of Beachton in Grady County, southwest Georgia. For generations, it served as both a spiritual home and a hub for education, civic engagement, and community life. Members of the congregation donated land and provided the labor to bring it to life.

Founded in 1903, Evergreen’s first frame church was built the following year. That original structure was replaced in 1928 with the current concrete-block building, following the demolition of the first church in 1925. While the interior has been modified over the years, the church has remained central to the community, hosting voter registration drives, meetings with county officials, farm and home demonstration programs, 4-H clubs, and Boy Scouts.

Evergreen’s school began in 1903, becoming the first in Beachton to offer education for African American children. The current school building was completed in 1911, with classrooms on the first floor and teacher living quarters upstairs. From 1916 to 1938, it operated as the Grady County Training School. Remarkably, the interior has changed little since 1911, with four upstairs bedrooms still intact. The northwest cornerstone reads: “Grady County / Training School / A.M.A 1911.”

Evergreen also holds national significance as the first pastorate of Andrew Young, who would go on to become a Civil Rights leader, U.S. Congressman, Ambassador to the United Nations, and Mayor of Atlanta. Serving from 1957 to 1959, Young also pastored Bethany Congregational Church in nearby Thomasville. Reflecting on his time here, he wrote: “As I look back, my experience in these rural church assignments was the basis for my understanding of racial inequality in the South and my deeply held conviction to do something about it. It prepared me for the long struggle that was to come.”

Congregationalism, with roots in New England and a strong missionary tradition, came to the South after the Civil War through the American Missionary Association. Evergreen is one of only three Congregational churches built in Georgia during the first half of the 20th century. Both Evergreen and Bethany Congregational are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.