Mt. Olive Baptist Church was founded in 1818 in Hartwood.  It is the oldest active black church in the county and up until after the Civil War, had a white minister because blacks, whether free or enslaved, could not legally congregate without a white person present.

“For several years a slab harbor, similar to a brush arbor, served as the house of worship.   When the Rev Robert Johnson became minister, a temporary structure was built, and later, under the leadership of the Rev. William Tyler, a more permanent building was erected.”

As the first black church in Stafford County, “They hewed out the wilderness and drew up a highway for coming generations to have a path to follow” according to church history.