MARIETTA — At the Old Zion Heritage Museum, the past is intertwined with the present.
The building — which was the old chapel built in 1888 by formerly enslaved people — sits on Lemon Street, less than a block away from where the current church stands.
The original wooden pews still fill the hall, and the piano has been played for over a century. It is a symbol of how far Black people in Marietta, and America, have come. But it’s also a physical reminder of how close one of the darkest parts of the country’s history is.
“Zion has not forgotten who it was, who it is, and who it aspires to be,” said Rev. Charles Hill II, Zion Baptist Church’s young adult ministry pastor. “Zion knows where it comes from.”
History come alive
A walk through the Old Zion History Museum — which can be organized by appointment only — presents guests with artifacts and photographs that shed light on what life was like for those living through the 19th and 20th centuries.
One wall is dedicated to Black history makers of Marietta, like Daphne Delk, who was one of the first two Black students to enroll in Marietta High School when it was desegregated in 1964.