History of Soapstone Baptist Church
Roughly 130 years ago, 900 freed slaves settled the area called Little Liberia in Pickens County, named after the original African nation. Their former masters settled along prime farmland near the main towns and roads and gave the former slaves the more “undesirable” land in the outlying areas. But the Liberians went to work making the land plentiful and building a rich community.
Mabel Clarke is the last living descendant of the original Liberia families. Her great-grandfather Joseph McJunkin founded Soapstone Baptist Church, and her parents, who both lived for more than 100 years, are buried in the churchyard. A one-room schoolhouse, thought to be the oldest African American school in South Carolina, stands beside the church.
The church was rebuilt in the 1960's after it was burned down by the KKK.