Editor’s Note: Historic Churches of Western North Carolina is an ongoing 828newsNOW series exploring the sacred spaces that helped shape mountain communities. Many of these churches began as small mission chapels or neighborhood gathering places. Their histories reveal how faith, culture and daily life intertwined across Western North Carolina. By documenting these buildings and the congregations connected to them, we hope to preserve part of the region’s church history and honor the people whose stories continue to shape the mountains today.
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW.com) — Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church stands on Eagle Street as a testament to faith and community in downtown Asheville. Since its completion in 1919, the redbrick Gothic structure has served as one of Western North Carolina’s most prominent African-American congregations and remains a living piece of the city’s cultural and architectural story.
The congregation’s story began in the late 19th century, not long after the Civil War, when Black residents in Asheville sought a place to worship, free from the discrimination they faced elsewhere. Amid segregation and limited opportunities, the church became a center for social support and leadership at a time when Asheville’s Black community was building its own institutions…