Rocky Fork Preservation Alliance (RFPA) – Who are we?
Well, it all started by wanting to cut the grass.
By August of 2025, the New Bethel AME Church at Rocky Fork had been closed for six years. The graveyard was now overgrown with grass and weeds. The church was vandalized, with a broken window and basement door. Since the doors closed, there was no light, heat, or water. Yet the church stood silent, lost in time, its proud face still smiling against the mold and mildew of years of benign neglect. Its story is ready to be retold.
Some 15 individuals from all walks of life began to meet. Some were descendants of those buried there. Some were casual walkers who passed by the church often and wondered, “What is the story of this church?” So many people wanted the cemetery and the church to be presentable.
Little did they know that the AME denomination, which owned the church, the land, and the graveyard, wanted to sell the church! In the following days, this committee of volunteers recruited more volunteers and cut the grass, cleared the brush, and cleaned the headstones so that the land looked cared for again. The church windows were repaired, the mold removed from the building, and the church looked alive again. The committee knew this would all be in vain if it was not kept up.
But what do you do? Buy a church?
The church descendants told of this area and church being a stop on the Underground Railroad, and of the entire area being a designated site recognized by the National Park Service as part of the Network to Freedom program. There was the answer: create a museum to commemorate the Underground Railroad and the descendants of this church.
So, the Rocky Fork Preservation Alliance was created as a nonprofit corporation. The mission of the Alliance is to pass on the love of God’s people through converting the church and cemetery into an Underground Railroad museum.
We invite you to join us in this effort. Whether through volunteering, donations, or simply sharing our story, your support helps preserve an important piece of history.
Timeline of Rocky Fork Church
1863 – President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing enslaved people in states in rebellion against the United States. This proclamation did not apply to enslaved people in Missouri.
1863 – Rev. Erasmus Green formally organizes the congregation at Rocky Fork as Bethel AME Rocky Fork Church. Rev. Erasmus Green and John Davidson enlist in the United States Colored Infantry to serve during the Civil War.
1869 – The first Bethel AME Rocky Fork Church building is completed. The structure also serves as a school for the local community.
1923 – The church building is moved across the road to a more level site.
1926 – Bethel AME Rocky Fork Church is renamed New Bethel Rocky Fork AME Church.
1927 – The church is struck by lightning and destroyed by fire. It is subsequently rebuilt on the same site.
1971 – A vandal’s bomb damages the church refrigerator.
1974 – Another vandal’s bomb damages the church interior. The building is repaired.
1988 – The burning of New Bethel Rocky Fork AME Church on two separate occasions draws national media attention, prompts FBI involvement in the arson investigation, and leads to a national rally of AME Church leaders.
1989 – During Watch Night services on New Year’s Eve, a sheriff’s deputy burns several of the few remaining homes and structures in the Rocky Fork community.
1989 – A Texas composer writes Here We Stand in honor of New Bethel Rocky Fork AME Church.
1989 – Federal legislation is enacted to improve the tracking and reporting of hate crimes.
1989 – The new church building is rededicated.
2005 – At the request of Great Rivers Land Trust, Charlotte E. Johnson revises the Network to Freedom nomination to include the Rocky Fork area. The revised nomination is accepted.
