Union Primitive Baptist Church in Coffee County is a hidden gem of rural Georgia. According to a church history written for its centennial celebration in 2015, “There are various references which lead us to believe the church was formed from a group of members of the Live Oak Church, now known as Spring Hill. As the histories of many of our churches state, the people gathered in clearings surrounded by brush (brush arbors). Regardless of where they met or what group they came from, they shared one interest, and that was to establish a Primitive Baptist church in this community.”

The church stands on land that was once part of the Paulk family cemetery. Six acres were donated by Oscar Paulk Sr., the church’s first deacon. The Paulk name is deeply woven into the history of this area—of the 316 documented burials in the cemetery, 49 bear the Paulk surname. The patriarch of the family, Micajah Paulk Jr. (1763–1847), was a Revolutionary War soldier who went on to become a prosperous planter in Irwin County. He also served as pastor of an earlier church, also named Union Primitive Baptist, located not far from here. The Irwin County tax digest records that he owned 3,430 acres of farmland, a remarkable holding for the time.

Micajah’s grave is the oldest in the cemetery and marks the beginning of a long Paulk legacy in the region. When Union Primitive Baptist Church was organized in 1915, there were only fifteen burials on the site, and every one carried the Paulk name. Today, the church remains a quiet but enduring presence in Coffee County, preserving both the spiritual traditions of the Primitive Baptist faith and the heritage of one of Georgia’s founding families in this community.