Revisiting an Old Church

Bethel Presbyterian Church, Chattooga County, Georgia

Canon 6D, 28-105 f3.5-4.5mm EF lens

(Click to enlarge)

In a remote area south of Summerville, Georgia, on a road so narrow that when I encountered another truck the same size as mine I had to stop and let him go by, I turned off the paved road and took a dirt road for a short distance to revisit Bethel Presbyterian Church, built in 1849, and Bethel Yard, its large and very old cemetery which actually predates the church.

In one of the graves in Bethel Yard lies the Reverend T.C. Crawford, who founded Bethel Church and was its pastor until his death in 1885. He also established at Bethel a school called Armuchee Academy, the first high school in Chattooga County.

In this obscure place, in a community called Dirt Town, once existed several thriving churches and an academy that drew students from as far away as Alabama and Tennessee. Now only the cemetery and the empty building remains. Although no longer in use, Bethel is being well cared-for. I encountered no one when I visited the church, but some is mowing the grounds, and when I looked inside the church I saw scaffolding, which indicated that someone had been repairing the ceiling.

I first visited the church in 2016, while working on my book Backroads and Byways of Georgia. Now I'm working on a second edition.

Georgia has a rich history, and the many old, mostly abandoned but still beautiful churches scattered around the state represent an integral part of it.

 

Photograph and text copyright 2021, David B.Jenkins

I post each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo

For the glory of God alone

 

Tags: photography, Dave Jenkins, Georgia history, Presbyterian Church, Chattooga County, Canon 6D camera, Canon 28-105 f3.5-4.5 EF lens