Barton Chapel Congregational Church is a historic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

Robbins, Tennessee Robbins is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Scott County, Tennessee. As of the 2010 census, its population is 287. It is concentrated along U.S. Route 27 between Huntsville and Elgin, in Tennessee's Cumberland ...

. The church building on

U.S. Highway 27 U.S. Route 27 (US 27) is a north–south United States Highway in the southern and midwestern United States. The southern terminus is at US 1 in Miami, Florida. The northern terminus is at Interstate 69 (I-69) in Fort Wayne, Indiana. F ...

, built in 1926, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1984. The

Congregational Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs its ...

church in Robbins was established in 1885 as the Pilgrim Church. It was renamed Barton Chapel in honor of its first minister, William E. Barton. After attending

Berea College Berea College is a private liberal arts work college in Berea, Kentucky. Founded in 1855, Berea College was the first college in the Southern United States to be coeducational and racially integrated. Berea College charges no tuition; every adm ...

, he spent two years as a circuit-riding preacher serving the church in Robbins as well as churches in

Glenmary Glenmary Home Missioners, also known as The Home Missioners of America Inc.; Latin: ''Societas Missionariorum Domesticorum Americæ''), is a Catholic society of priests and brothers founded in 1939 to serve the spiritual and material needs of peo ...

Deer Lodge Deer Lodge is a city in and the county seat of Powell County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,938 at the 2020 census. Description The city is perhaps best known as the home of the Montana State Prison, a major local employer. ...

and Lancing. He left Robbins to continue his education at a seminary in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. After finishing at the seminary, he went on to serve the First Congregational Church in

Oak Park, Illinois Oak Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, adjacent to Chicago. It is the 29th-most populous municipality in Illinois with a population of 54,583 as of the 2020 U.S. Census estimate. Oak Park was first settled in 1835 and later incorporated in ...

, as its pastor for 25 years. He left Illinois to finish his career as a member of the faculty of the School of Religion at

Vanderbilt University Vanderbilt University (informally Vandy or VU) is a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and rail magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided the school its initial $1-million ...

in Nashville. When the Congregational church in Robbins built a new building in 1926, the building was dedicated to Barton, who attended the

cornerstone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over time ...

-laying ceremony. The church is built from

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

produced in Robbins, which was a center for

brickmaking A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

. The brick for the church was donated by the Southern Clay Manufacturing Company; the church walls were laid three bricks thick. Interior furnishings in the church include a

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

and two altar chairs from Barton's church in Oak Park,

pew A pew () is a long bench (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

s donated by the women of the Oak Park church, and light fixtures donated by a friend of the Barton family.

References

Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Gothic Revival church buildings in Tennessee Churches completed in 1926 20th-century churches in the United States Buildings and structures in Scott County, Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Scott County, Tennessee Congregational churches in Tennessee 1926 establishments in Tennessee {{Tennessee-church-stub