Hard Labor Church installs historic site marker

A Florida Heritage Site Marker has been installed at Hard Labor Church in Vernon. 

The project was spearheaded by Vernon Historical Society member Linda Waller.

“This has been a very long time coming,” said  Waller.

The Primitive Baptist Church was built in 1848 and stayed active until the mid to late 1980s. The original building was located across the road from its current location but had to be moved due to the congregation not owning the original lot in 1950.

Since the location change, many updates have been made to the building due to the aftermath of Hurricane Michael. The storm caused two large pines to fall onto the church, leaving the roof collapsed and the building shifted off its foundation. The windows were also severely damaged, but were re-built by the Castle family who are Washington County locals. 

The funding for the marker was donated by a dear friend of the Historical Society, Jane Gota, when she passed two years ago.

 “She was very passionate about this church, and this goes above and beyond what we ever expected for this site,” said Waller.

The Vernon Historical Society also expressed their appreciation to Bob Wells and Junior Weeks, who helped install the site marker.