Mount Olivet Baptist Church on Mount Olivet Road in the Zirconia community was organized in the late 1800s by a delegation from Mud Creek Baptist Church. Some records indicate that it was organized after 1870, other records state in the 1880s.
The church’s early leaders included Wesley Anderson, Noah Corn, Wiley Jones, and others.
Three buildings were destroyed by fire. The first church burned in 1895. There was a fire in 1945 and another fire in 1960.
A recent probing in the cemetery has discovered numerous grave stones that were buried under the ground. Some of these are marked.
The oldest marked grave stones prior to the probing are those of Piety H., a daughter of W. and M.J. Jones (1881-1882), and J.C.A. Gordon (1860-1883).
Families with the surnames of Bane, Ballard, Capps, Gordon, Hart, Heatherly, Howard, Jones, Osteen, Tankersley, Ward and more have grave sites within the cemetery.
There are two men with grave sites in the cemetery who served in the Confederate Army.
Wiley L. Jones enlisted in the 35th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. G, Henderson Rifles, in October 1861. He was discharged in May 1862 due to “general debility.” He re-enlisted in March 1864 and was discharged in June 1864 by reason of “great debility.” He died in 1916.
James Thomas Ward enlisted in the 60th N.C. Infantry Regiment, Co. D, Henderson Rangers, in July 1862. He deserted that October. He was apprehended in April 1864. There are no further military records. He died in 1907.
This remains an active church cemetery.