Mt. Zion UAME was founded in 1868 in an abandoned blacksmith shop near Boogle Run at the corner of New London Rd and Ray St. Congregants walked three miles to St. Daniels UAME in Iron Hill before the establishment of Mt. Zion. In 1869 the congregation acquired land on the opposite side of New London Rd and used wood from the blacksmith shop to erect a new church. New construction on the church at its current location began in 1979 and the doors opened in 1981. In 2003 the church was enlarged and rededicated. Mt. Zion was part of the first incorporated church movement established under the control of free blacks in the U.S. founded by Peter Spencer in 1813