About us.
Welcome to Strieby Congregational Church, School, and Cemetery Cultural Heritage and United for Libraries Literary Landmark! Strieby Cultural Heritage and Literary Landmark Site is on the historic Strieby Congregational United Church of Christ property, in Union Township, in southwestern Randolph County, in the heart of the Uwharrie Mountains, surrounded by the Uwharrie National Forest. It is located at 5480 Strieby Church Road, off High Pine Church Road, about eight miles east of Highway 49.
Strieby Congregational United Church of Christ (EIN: 34-2063368) is a member of the Western Association of the Southern Conference of the United Church of Christ. We are a tax-exempt North Carolina non-profit and a member of the Western Association’s tax-exempt group tax-exempt certificate 1665 (EIN: 13-1957221).
While the Rev. Islay Walden was the founding minister, three matriarchs also buried in the cemetery represent the earliest founding families. (L-R) (1) Priscilla Mahockley Hill was the matriarch of the Hill family. She and her husband Ned Hill had 12 children who survived to adulthood. They were the core family, even giving their name to the early community, “Hill Town.” (2) Julia Ritter Walden was Islay Walden’s aunt. She came with several of her children, including Henry Ruffin Walden Sr., from neighboring Moore County, once the church and school were established. (3) Kate Polk Lassiter was the wife of Colier Lassiter. He was the son of Miles Lassiter, the only African American Quaker in North Carolina when he died in 1850. Colier and Kate lived with their children about 2 miles away across the mountain on land that bordered the Uwharrie River and present-day Lassiter Mill Road.
DONATE
Keep Strieby Striving
We the descendants continue to strive to embody and teach to the next generations the values that our ancestors, the founders of Strieby, passed to us. If you would like to help “Keep Strieby Striving” by making a donation, you may do so at Cash App by using the tag $StriebyChurch, on Give Butter, or you can send a check to Strieby Church, at PO Box 3429, Asheboro, NC 27203. We appreciate any and all donations. Thank you!
United for Libraries Literary Landmark
2022
In August 2021, Strieby Church was notified that United for Libraries (American Library Association affiliate) had designated Strieby a Literary Landmark in honor of the Rev. Islay Walden, a recognized 19th century African American poet. It was his enslaver, Jesse Smitherman who was the first to call Walden a “poet,” after hearing his impromptu poem eulogizing “Poor Old Dick,” an ox who had died. In 1911, Arthur Schomburg and John Bruce created The Negro Society for Historical Research, the foundational collection for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in New York City. Among those works that they first gathered for this new collection were the “Poems of Islay Walden, Blind Poet of North Carolina.” After a delay due to the Covid outbreak, the Marker was unveiled on Saturday, 9 April 2022.
Reconstruction-Era National Historic Network
2023
In January 2023, Strieby Cultural Heritage and Literary Landmark Site was added to the Reconstruction-Era National Historic Network, a program of the National Park Service.
Our History
The Early Community
Hill Town
The original community consisted of Free People of Color, later joined by formerly enslaved freedmen. Many community members descended from Edward “Ned” Hill and his wife, Priscilla (Mahockley) Hill and associated families. The community consisted primarily of Hill family members and was known as Hill Town.
1879
Promised Land
In 1879, the Rev. Islay Walden returned to Randolph County after a twelve-year odyssey in search of an education. Having received a teaching degree from Howard University and theological training at the New Brunswick Theological Seminary in New Brunswick, New Jersey, he returned to Randolph County under the auspices of the American Missionary Association to establish a church and school in a small African American community, tucked in the Uwharrie Mountains in southwestern Randolph County, known as Hill Town. By the following Spring, he had acquired six acres for the First Congregational Church of Randolph County, on which the first church building was built. That first church was called Promised Land Church and the school, Promised Land Academy.
1883
Strieby Post Office
In 1883, Rev. Walden petitioned the government to establish a post office at Hill Town. He also requested it be called Strieby, in honor of the Corresponding Secretary of the American Missionary Association. With that, the church and school were also renamed Strieby.
1972
A New Building
In December 1972, a new church building was dedicated after the original building was condemned. The new building was built by Denton, North Carolina, builder, Archie Smith Sr. following a mid-century modern brick church design from Kate Lassiter Jones. Mr. Smith was assisted by his son, Archie Smith Jr. and Randy Nance. The church was built with bricks from Boron Brick Manufacturers, in Pleasant Garden (Greensboro), North Carolina. All the trusses, beams, and rafters were hand built by the three men from Douglas Fir, obtained from Asheboro Building Supply. The bell tower holds the original church bell.
1982 & 1992
Fellowship Hall
In 1982, the fellowship hall, also constructed by Archie Smith, was added to the building. In 1992, the clear windows were replaced with stained glass windows. The windows were created by Laws Stained Glass Studios, in Statesville, North Carolina. The large window behind the altar area contains a “floating” image of a swarthy complected Jesus, reportedly the first of its kind in the area.
Today
Cemetery
The church does not currently hold weekly services but continues to serve descendants of the early founders and the community on special occasions, including the annual Homecoming Service, the fourth Sunday of August each year. Family members also continue to bury their loved ones in Strieby Cemetery.
Homecoming
The annual Homecoming Service is held on the fourth Sunday of August each year.
Homecoming 2022: Fellowship Dinner 2022
Photo by Mark Kemp
Homecoming 2022: L-R: Tasha Laughlin Hall, Church Secretary/Treasurer, presenting Jerry P. Laughlin, Deacon & Trustee, with a Certificate of Appreciation.
Photo courtesy of Our State Magazine
Homecoming 2023: Phillips Ferguson Family Singers
Photo courtesy of Margo Lee Williams