Union County celebrates its unique Hallelujah Trail, honoring the contributions of its oldest churches -

The Union County Hallelujah Trail is a unique undertaking dedicated to honoring the many contributions of our county’s oldest churches.

On Saturday March 7, 2026 a large crowd gathered at the Magnolia Civic Center to celebrate the Union County Hallelujah Trail and its 58 churches. The excellent Celebration program (see link below) was full of music and information about individual churches, pastors and members. Union County Heritage Museum Director Jill Smith opened the Celebration and welcomed the visitors. Mary Scales did an exceptional job of presenting a lot of information about various churches on the Trail, including the many connections and relationships between the churches. There were musical presentations sprinkled throughout the presentation, and the program was closed out by the world-renowned Rust College A’Cappella Choir, which was on its way to perform in Texas. The choir has performed across the United States, Europe and South Africa and was selected for the 36th Annual International Verona Competition in Italy in March 2025. (see link below of a Texas performanace).

The Union County Hallelujah Trail was founded in 2017 by the Union County Heritage Museum & Historical Society, as part of Mississippi’s Bicentennial Celebration, with the aid of a grant from Mississippi Humanities Council and the Mississippi Development Authority. It is the only county-wide trail of its kind established in Mississippi, and pays tribute to the influence local churches have had upon the people and culture of Union County. The trail begins in New Albany, the county seat of Union County, and takes visitors to historical locations throughout the rural landscape of Union County.

Many of the Union County Hallelujah Trail’s churches were established well before Union County was created in 1870, from land previously part of Tippah, Lee, or Pontotoc counties. Churches on the Trail were required to have been established 100 or more years before the Trail was created, and currently active. They range from those established in 1838 (Liberty Baptist Church, Union County’s oldest church and Mt. Gilead Baptist Church (possibly founded in 1838), to 1863 (Red Hills Missionary Baptist Church -the county’s first African American Church), to 1915 (Hall’s Chapel CME Church and Bodock Missionary Baptist Church), which were the “youngest” Centennial churches when the trail was established.*

Churches reaching their Centennial year are often individually recognized in proclamations by state officials and legislataive bodies, and are also documented by Mississippi Department of Archives and History (MDAH), etc. However, the 58 chuches included in the Union County Hallelujah trail are also identified by permanent on-site markers and included in brochures for tourist welcome centers.