CARTHAGE — The annual Beech Settlement Homecoming church service is set for 3 p.m. Sunday. It will take place outside the church building at the Beech Settlement, 10258 N. Rush County Road 725S, Carthage.
Organizers of the annual event, who canceled it in 2020 due to COVID-19, encourage those planning to attend Sunday’s outdoor service to bring their own lawn chairs and a mask. They can follow signs posted out of Charlottesville.
The settlement, Indiana’s first community of free Black settlers, was established in the 1820s after its residents arrived from North Carolina. They chose the area in part because they knew Quakers living in the area would welcome them as neighbors.
The church was built in the 1860s. Decades later, after the last settlers had moved away from farming to cities, a donor specified that the church site could remain in the hands of Beech descendants as long as at least one church service took place there each year. The tradition continues.
The most recent Homecoming in 2019 was special cause for celebration because the church was newly restored and resting on a firmer foundation. The structure had been named to Indiana Landmarks’ 10 Most Endangered list for 2016.
