Conecuh County's Brooklyn Baptist Church nears 200th anniversary

Brooklyn Baptist Church in Conecuh County, Ala.

I was out scouting around the other day and found myself in Brooklyn, way down in the southeastern corner of Conecuh County. I’d been to Brooklyn many times before, but on this particular day I didn’t have much going on, so I took my time as I eased down through the middle of town. When you take the time to slow down and really observe your surroundings, you’ll almost always see something you haven’t noticed before.

I entered Brooklyn from the direction of Evergreen and turned west on County Road 6 when I came to the main intersection in “downtown” Brooklyn. From there, I passed by the stores, the old fire station and the old Masonic hall that have been landmarks in Brooklyn for years and years. Brooklyn was once one of the largest communities in all of Conecuh County, and I tried to imagine what the town must have looked like more than a century ago.

According to B.F. Riley’s “History of Conecuh County,” the first settler of what is now Brooklyn was a man named Cameron, who established a ferry over the Sepulga River. In 1820, an intrepid pioneer named Edwin Robinson bought out Cameron’s ferry business, opened a store and named the community Brooklyn after his hometown of Brooklyn, Connecticut. Soon after, the village got a doctor, churches were constructed, a grist mill and other businesses sprung up, and more and more families moved in.

I continued west on County Road 6 until I arrived at the Brooklyn Baptist Church. I’d traveled past this church many times before, but as I pulled off the road in front of the church, it dawned on me that I’d never actually set foot on the church grounds. I switched off the truck and got out for a closer look.

No doubt, the Brooklyn Baptist Church is one of the most beautiful churches in all of Conecuh County. It is also one of the oldest. Founded in 1821, services were originally held inside a small wooden cabin, and the church that sits on the property now was built in 1861.

As I made my way around the front of the building, I snapped a few pictures of the church before making my way to the main gate of the cemetery. The gate creaked as I stepped inside, loudly enough to attract the attention of two sizeable black dogs from across the road. They barked at me a few times to let me know they were there, but they eventually grew bored with my presence and returned to the shade of their yard.

After about half an hour of exploring this large cemetery, I returned to my truck and headed back towards Evergreen. As the miles rolled beneath my wheels, my thoughts turned to Brooklyn’s most famous landmark, which I have never seen in person – Turk’s Cave. Often called “Sanders Cave,” this cave was supposedly used as a hideout by the outlaw, Joseph T. Hare.

Hare and his gang of highwaymen were said to have robbed and murdered travelers way back in the days of the Alabama Territory, back when the Indians still maintained possession of large parts of present-day Alabama. Hare and his companions supposedly stored their “treasures” in and around this cave and used it for a time as their camp and base of operations. Hare was eventually hung for his crimes in Baltimore, Maryland – many miles from his old hideout in Conecuh County.

In the end, I’ve always wanted to see Sanders Cave for myself, if only just for long enough to snap a picture of its entrance. I’ve been told that you can get very sick from breathing the unhealthy air inside this bat-infested cave, so I’d settle for just getting close enough to see the entrance and take a good photo of the cave. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll get the chance to visit Sanders Cave in person, but until then that will be a story for another time.