Barton Chapel
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Barton Chapel Congregational Church is a historic
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in
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 P ...
. The church building on U.S. Highway 27, built in 1926, was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1984. The
Congregational Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christianity, Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice Congregationalist polity, congregational ...
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. It was integrated from as early as 1866 ...
, he spent two years as a circuit-riding preacher serving the church in Robbins as well as churches in Glenmary, Deer Lodge and Lancing. He left Robbins to continue his education at a seminary in
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
. 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, United States, adjacent to Chicago. It is the List of municipalities in Illinois, 26th-most populous municipality in Illinois, with a population of 54,318 as of the 2020 census. Oak Park was first se ...
, 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 university, private research university in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, it was named in honor of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provide ...
in Nashville. When the Congregational church in Robbins built a new building in 1926, the building was dedicated to Barton, who attended the
cornerstone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...
-laying ceremony. The church is built from
brick A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
produced in Robbins, which was a center for
brickmaking A brick is a type of construction material used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a unit primarily composed of clay. But is now also used informally to denote building un ...
. 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 (: podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of a ...
and two altar chairs from Barton's church in Oak Park,
pew A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a synagogue, church, funeral home or sometimes a courtroom. Occasionally, they are also found in live performance venues (such as the Ryman ...
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