The cornerstone of the historic Union Ridge community was the Baptist church, organized shortly after the Civil War and located at this site since the late 1870s. Union Ridge Church served as a place of worship as well as a community center for African American families living up to several miles away. Its sanctuary was the location of the Albemarle Training School’s graduation exercises and meetings of religious and political organizations. In the 1920s, the church established a cemetery half a mile to the south (Site 5). The Union Ridge Church and congregation continue to flourish today.