Rodney Presbyterian Church, Federal architecture church in Jefferson County, Mississippi.
Rodney Presbyterian Church is a red-brick church in Rodney, Jefferson County, Mississippi, built from 1829 to 1832 in the Federal style. Its front presents a stepped gable, the openings are set in rounded arches, and an octagonal bell tower rises from the roof. The building faces the road in the old river town, and the damaged front wall is part of its present appearance.
David Hunt, a plantation owner known as "King David," donated the land, and Presbyterian Reverend Jeremiah Chamberlain began building the church in 1829; it was completed in 1832. On Sunday, September 13, 1863, Confederates burst into a service attended by Union crewmen of the USS Rattler to arrest them, and the Union ship fired a cannonball that damaged the front wall. The church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The church's name comes from Rodney, the Mississippi River port town that David Hunt's land donation helped sustain; Hunt, called "King David," owned the nearby Woodlawn Plantation. Services were held here under Reverend Baker, who in 1863 invited Union sailors of the USS Rattler to worship. Eliza Ogden, a school friend of Hunt's daughter Elizabeth, was pushed out a window during the Confederate raid and later kept the bullet that lodged in the frame.
This church sits in a historic district near a former river port area where visitors can access the grounds. The building shows signs of age and past damage, making it best viewed from outside while walking around to see all sides.
The front wall still bears a mark from a projectile that struck during armed conflict in 1863. This visible damage tells the story of when soldiers fired upon the building while people gathered inside.
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