The Needwood Baptist Church in Brunswick Georgia was organized in 1866 on nearby Broadfield Plantation as Broadfield Baptist Church of the Zion Baptist Association. This structure, built in the 1870s, was redesigned in 1885 when the church moved its congregation here. Its formation and history are representative of religious development in the context of plantation rice culture. The nearby one-room Needwood School provided elementary education for this community from 1907 until desegregation in the 1960s. Both structures are examples of early African-American vernacular architecture and hold historical significance, particularly in the context of African American history in the region. It is closely associated with the Gullah-Geechee culture, descendants of enslaved Africans who lived in coastal areas from North Carolina to Florida. The church is located near Needwood and is part of the broader community of Sapelo Island, where many freed slaves settled after the Civil War.
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