On July 2, 1802 a group from Upper King and Queen and Upper
Zion (Tuckahoe) Churches met and wrote a one page covenant forming Salem
Baptist Church. This body of believers met in an arbor until a wooden frame
building was constructed about two miles southwest of Alps.
In 1818 another group started Mount Calvary Church at Sparta. These
believers met in a large log house. In 1852 it was replaced with a brick
structure, which is Salem's present sanctuary.
Original Building at Sparta with Addition of Columns about 1906
In 1846 some members of
Salem at Alps came to Mount Calvary because of the temperance issue. In
1854 Andrew S. Broaddus, nephew of Andrew Broaddus I, led a wagon train
of 200 people from the Sparta area to Texas. Two years later the remaining
members of Mount Calvary dissolved their constitution and joined with the
Salem group near Alps. They met at the Salem Meeting House on the second
Saturday and Sunday, and the Mount Calvary Meeting House on the fourth
Sunday.
1865 marked the end of the Civil War and members of Salem helped their
black members establish Jerusalem Baptist Church in 1866. Jerusalem is
off the Newtown Road about two miles south of Sparta.
In 1869 members began to use the better meeting house in Sparta exclusively
and three years later the name was changed from Mount Calvary to Salem.
In 1912 Sunday School rooms were added.
The parsonage was built in 1927
on three acres of land donated by Samuel E. Pitts. 1952 marked completion
of the educational building with six classrooms, fellowship hall and kitchen.
The present sanctuary was extended and renovated providing a choir loft,
larger pulpit and additional rooms in 1972. In 1984 the original Sunday
School rooms were replaced by an addition that included offices and a choir
room. 1999 marked the dedication of a new two story building with 12 classrooms,
a large choir room, kitchen and fellowship hall that will seat about 250
people.
God's Garden Day Care, established in 2000, occupies the lower floor
of the new building and the basement of the old educational building Monday
through Friday. On Wednesday nights AWANA and youth programs involve over
100 young people.
In December 2004 renovation was begun on the sanctuary and was
completed the summer of 2005. There are new heating-cooling,
sound, and
lighting systems. The pulpit area was expanded. None of
the outside was been altered and much care was taken to preserve the
19th century character of the building. Today Salem has about 350 members and employs two full
time staff persons. Average Sunday School attendance is about 300.
