St.+Paul's+AME+(Church+history+and+the+start+of+the+Black+Easter+marches)

Saint Paul African American Methodist Episcopal Church was organized in 1878. This church was built Mr. L. Bates, a successful blacksmith in the community who donated the land for the church. The first pastor was Reverend Andrew Paul Beslaw. About 1900, the church was burned down and many of the first records were lost. Two years later, a fire struck the church and the parsonage were destroyed but later rebuilt the same year. In 1902, Bishop Henry McNeal Turner dedicated the new bulidings to the glory of God. From 1982 to 1986 the church was renovated and rededicated. From 1958 to 1991 St. Paul received national television exposure as a location for the "In the Heat of Night" televison series and the "I 'll Fly Away." As a result, the church became a permanent registration site for Newton County voters. Rev. Howell and the St. Paul congregation granted permission for the African American community of Covington, Georgia to hold its evening meetings at its location.The peaceful night marchers left St. Paul's Church every night with over 1,000 black men and women marched up Stone Mountain Street " Short Street" to the Covington Square with their grievances. Blacks refused to buy in Newton County until the store owners and residents treated Blacks with dignity. This march was the culmination of many previous marches and boycotts as Black citizens protested racial segregation in local businesses, schools, the police department and the hospital. This movement became known as the " Black Easter," that opened many opportunities for Blacks in Newton County.