Birmingham Churches and Their Cornerstones 99

Union Missionary Baptist Church erected what is now the oldest church building in Homewood, Alabama in 1914. The congregation is older, having been established in 1887. Among Homewood congregations, it is second in age only to Homewood Cumberland Presbyterian Church, which was organized in 1883. (See this earlier post for a history of Homewood’s oldest congregations.)

There are 2 sets of memorial stones on the building. The older one is on the corner. And commemorates the remodeling of the church in 1932.

The most prominent one is to the right of the main door and was erected when the church marked its centennial in 1987. It can be confusing because it mentions two congregations in “Clifton, Alabama.” Clifton is not a different place, it is simply reflects the older name of the Rosedale section of Homewood in which the church sits. It was developed by the Clifton Land Company. The two congregations “Healing Springs Baptist Church” and “First Baptist Church” united in 1914 to form this “Union” church. First Church was also known as “Walnut Street Baptist Church.”

A historical marker located on the street corner across from the church explains Rosedale’s history.

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

Map of Posts in this Project

The color and shape of the location markers indicate the character of the cornerstones at each site. Stones like these, with multiple names, are represented by red markers. When, as here, there are multiple stones, the marker includes a square. Click here for full information on the markers.