George Kornegay
George Paul Kornegay (born November 23, 1913 in Bibb County; died June 3, 2014) was a foundry worker pastor in the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and the creator of a notable "visionary environment" on a hill near his home in Brent.
Kornegay was the second of ten children born to Will and Sue Kornegay. His father worked as a sharecropper and also spent time as a miner in West Blocton, and working at the O. C. Grimes Veneer Company. He attended the Alabama Mission School in Brent until the 10th grade, leaving school to help farm a 28-acre plot that his father had bought from Charles Hogan in 1925.
Kornegay worked as a gardener and handyman, and later took jobs in a steel mill, at a cotton sack mill, a sawmill, and a paper mill. During World War II he was employed making shells at Century Foundry in Tuscaloosa and returned to work there afterward.
Kornegay married Minnie Sue Tubbs on August 9, 1932, and they had 12 children. He felt a call to the ministry and pastored AME Zion churches in Grove Hill, Cottage Hill and Marietta for more than 50 years.
In 1980 Kornegay was similarly led through dreams and visions to sculpt a face into a red rock, and to continue to assemble an immersive environment out of found objects placed with care on the two-acre hillside near his home. Over the years he variously referred to the project as "The New Jerusalem", the "Seven Holy Mountains", "Art Hill", and "Sacred Mountain."
Kornegay, a widower, died in June 2014. He was survived by 9 of his children, and by 30 grandchildren and 45 great-grandchildren. He was buried at Hopewell Cemetery in Brent.
References
- Arnett, William (1997, 1998) Interviews with George Kornegay. Souls Grown Deep Foundation - accessed January 6, 2023
- "George Paul Kornegay" (July 4, 2022) Wikipedia - accessed January 6, 2023
External links
- George Paul Kornegay at Findagrave.com