This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/YeB.2ACI/577.1 Message Board Post: This may be what you are looking for: Ora ARP Church Route 2 Box 353 Gray Court, S.C. 29645 (864) 682-3622 or 23420 Highway 221 North Gray Court, SC 29645 According to information at a University of South Carolina website (http://src1.cas.sc.edu/dept2/iss/SCNames/index.php?action=showPage&book=2&volume=18&page=17 ) "..... Ora Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church is located approximately six miles north of Laurens near the intersection of U. S. Highway 221 with State Highway 308. This church was organized around 1790. The earliest church records are lost so no definite date can be established, but the church is thought to be a few years older than the above date. The first worship service was conducted five hundred feet from the present location. The first name of this church was Madole's Old Field, The name was later changed to Warrior Creek in 1809 and then to Bethel in 1836. Many years later, by custom the church was called Ora for the nearby railroad station and village but the name was not officially made Ora until 1986. The origin of the name Ora is interesting. Prior to 1885 the community was known as Scuffletown. When the railroad was being extended from Laurens to Spartanburg, the little village of ScufBetown was in the path of the railroad. According to tradition, one of the railroad surveyors by the name of Tyler McDonald was asked by his company to consult the local residents for their approval of a shorter name than Scuffietown for the railway station and soon-to-be established postoffice. McDonald was in love with Miss Leora Hunter, a local maiden. He asked for her hand and for permission for a portion of her name for the railway station and community. The name Ora was in time accepted by all concerned. Ora A.R.P. Church is among the oldest churches in Laurens County. This church and the later-established Providence A.R.P. Church in the city of Clinton are believed to be the only A.R.P. churches in Laurens County..... " - Tim www.UpstateAncestry.com