Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church, Protestant church on Hempstead County Route 16 near Blevins, Arkansas.
Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church is a single-story wood-frame church on Hempstead County Route 16, about 3 miles south of Blevins, Arkansas. It has a Jerkinhead roof and a steeple topped by a hip roof. The grounds also hold a small wood-frame Sunday school building from about the same period and a cemetery.
The building was constructed in 1942, but its origins trace to materials from a 1870s structure that was removed from the site. The relocation became necessary to make room for the Southwestern Proving Ground, which expanded in the region.
The congregation was originally based in a community named for and supported by Arkansas Senator James Kimbrough Jones, before the Southwestern Proving Ground displaced it in 1940. The church keeps that name and history alive for the African-American residents of the Blevins area.
The church stands on Hempstead County Route 16, about 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Blevins; the rural road is the only approach, so a vehicle is needed. The single-story church, the small Sunday school building and the cemetery share the same grounds, all visible from the roadside.
The congregation's community was originally named for Arkansas Senator James Kimbrough Jones, who supported it; the church moved when the Southwestern Proving Ground was established in 1940. The property also holds a small wood-frame Sunday school building from about 1942 and a cemetery.
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