Nokomis started off by being a small rail road community, being called Wilson Station located on the L & N Railroad. It was a thriving mill town in its earlier days but later became an agricultural community.
On November 27, 1886, a large crowd gathered at Nokomis to witness the novel site of a Locomotive winding its way through the country over dirt roads. The engine was purchased by the Wallace and Sanford Mill. It moved on portable track consisting of slender pine poles. The town later became a voting precinct on May 12, 1886. A large part of Nokomis is the Antioch Holiness church. It was one of the first churches of Nokomis and was a large gathering place for many throughout the community.
Pictured above is Grady Hollingsworth and his wife Agnes. Mr. Hollingsworth was the first pastor of the Antioch Holiness Church.
Pictured below is Montey Boone and Doris Green Crenshaw attending services at the Antioch Church. This church was the first and only church in the community for many years.
Pictured above are sisters Laura Green Cook and Doris Green Crenshaw attending church services at Antioch Holiness Church.
The Antioch church was basically a community gathering place. It was a small, wooden building until the community started a building program. Everyone was poor, but the children brought dimes each Sunday to Sunday School until enough money was saved to purchase a block for the new church's structure. The church was made larger, and people even used it for social events. This was basically the only place the younger people could go after dates, according to some former Nokomis community members. Sitting with a young lady or fellow in church was the ultimate in happiness. Some of the boys rode horses up to the windows of the church to talk to the girls through the open windows. The preaching was so loud back then, that no one noticed the youth were whispering to each other. Former pastors who meant a lot to the community are Rev. Ralph Johnson and Rev. Ernest Boone. Rev. Boone's entire family supplied the musical entertainment for the congregation. The cemetery located just behind the Antioch Church offers a trip through the former lives of those who once made up the community.