Birmingham Churches and their Cornerstones 94

The town of Wylam in Jefferson County grew up around coal mines opened by Tennesee Iron and Coal (TCI) in 1886. Joseph Martin moved to the town from Wylam, Notinghamshire, England to work in the mines, but soon opened a store that became the location of the post office giving him the honor of naming the locality. He named it for his home town.

Methodists established the community’s first church in 1888. It was organized around Martin’s kitchen table and later named in his honor. Its 1926 Gothic revival building sits on the town’s high ground. It was designed by T. L. Brodie. I have not found any information on him. Let me know if you have any.

Wylam had entered into a substantial decline by the early 1970s as TCI operations in the area closed. The congregation later disbanded and the building became the home of Christian Fellowship Church which is led by Pastor Andy B. Ragland.

Read this first post for more on this series on Birmingham churches and their cornerstones.

Map of Posts in this Project

Each site in this project is mapped below. Clicking on an icon will bring up a box with a link to the post on the site. Please use it to browse the collection.

The color and shape of the location markers indicate the character of the cornerstones at each site. Ones with multiple names like this are red. If there is more than one stone at the site a shape is used. Click here for full information on the icons.

Sources

Best people in the world live in Wylam Birmingfind, 1981?. Birmingham Public Library Digital Collection.