Historic Beulah Baptist gets a new look thanks to national grant

By Roscoe Barnes III

The Natchez Democrat
Published 10:39 am Tuesday, July 1, 2025 

Beulah Missionary Baptist Church has a new steeple. It was funded by a $150,000 grant awarded by the National Trust for Historic Preservation through the Preserving Black Churches program of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. Other restoration work included the outside windows, and the walls and ceiling in the church foyer. (Click on image to enlarge.)

NATCHEZ –  A $150,000 grant awarded in 2024 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation has made a difference in the appearance, stability, and preservation of Beulah Missionary Baptist Church. 

The funding, which came through the Preserving Black Churches program of the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund, was used for the restoration of the steeple and exterior windows of the 112-year-old structure. 

“When the time is right, the Lord will make it happen, and it has happened at Beulah Baptist Church,” said Pastor Johnathan T. Hargrave. “We’re so thankful for the blessings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Members of Beulah Missionary Baptist Church are celebrating the restoration of their church steeple and exterior windows completed in May. Pictured in front of the church from left are Robert Morgan, deacon; Johnathan T. Hargrave, pastor; and Carter Burns, executive director of the Historic Natchez Foundation. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Other restoration work included the walls and ceiling in the church foyer, said Deacon Robert Morgan. He and other church officials are excited about the project being completed, and they are pleased with the results, Morgan said. 

He noted the construction began in November 2024 and was completed in May 2025. Johnny Waycaster of Waycaster Dungan Architecture and Engineering was the architect on the project, and Smith Painting and Contracting completed the work. 

“Everybody was overjoyed,” Morgan said of the congregation. “They were so pleased that they actually made more trips to the church. Some people who don’t even attend the church said they made it a habit to drive by to see how it looks.

For Morgan, the project is about the legacy of the church. “It means that the legacy continues,” he said. “Each generation does its best to take what the previous generation gave and makes it better. In this case, the legacy continues for the next generation, which won’t have that problem (of the steeple) to deal with.” 

Carter Burns, executive director of Historic Natchez Foundation, assisted the church with its grant application. 

“We’re thankful that the Historic Natchez Foundation was able to assist Beulah in receiving this grant from the Preserving Black Churches program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation to restore the steeple on this important historic church building here in Natchez,” Burns said.

The church before the restoration. (Click on image to enlarge.)

Beulah is located at 710 Beulah St. or B Street. It played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement in Natchez. According to historians, it was regularly used as a meeting place by the Natchez NAACP.  In early October 1965, NAACP meetings at the church launched protests that resulted in the arrest of several hundred protesters who defied a court ban against marching. 

When the local jails became full, the authorities bused 150 of them to Parchman Penitentiary where they endured harsh treatment. It is said that they were “Proud to Take a Stand.” Their experience became known as “The Parchman Ordeal.”

 Beulah was founded in 1896 by William Rochester, a U.S. Colored Troops veteran and commander-in-chief of the Mississippi and Louisiana Department of the Grand Army of the Republic. 

The church officially organized on December 30, 1896, but its original wooden building was constructed in 1901, according to Hargrave. Unfortunately, he said, it was destroyed by fire on March 4, 1911, and rebuilt in 1912. 

Beulah was one of 31 churches out of more than 550 applicants across the United States approved for funding by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which awarded a total of $4 million for the institutions.  A dedication ceremony for the steeple will be held at 4 p.m. , Sunday, July 20, during the church homecoming service. It is open to the public.

Read more at: https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2025/07/01/historic-beulah-baptist-gets-a-new-look-thanks-to-grant/