Moving Day: In 1971, church members hoisted the building that is now the historic chapel onto a flatbed trailer and towed it with a tractor to the current location on Lower Roswell Road.
Roll of members, circa 1921
Mt. Bethel members of the Women's Society of Christian Service, 1933
Mt. Bethel remained at its first and original location until the late 1870’s. At that time, John Hayes donated two acres of land at the intersection of Johnson Ferry Road and Lower Roswell Road as the site for a new church building; timber for a new church was cut and donated by Pinkney J. Power. Shortly thereafter, this church building burned, but members and others in the community soon erected another one-room church on the same site.
This one-room church would prove to be a steadfast structure in the life of Mt. Bethel. With almost no changes in look or function, the one-room church served Mt. Bethel until 1951 – almost 80 years. However, by then the congregation had outgrown the simple structure, so a small porch and three rooms for Sunday School were added. Just five years later, a hallway and three additional classrooms were added. Mt. Bethel reached a milestone in 1965 when three more classrooms were added, but perhaps even more significant, the church built its very first indoor restrooms.
This expanded church building, the core of which was built in the 1870’s, served Mt. Bethel for nearly 100 years until it was moved to the present campus. The original structure now occupies a venerated space within the Mt. Bethel community with its beautifully aged wooden floors and pews, stained glass windows, and the aura that clings to old buildings that have been loved and well-used. Today, it serves as Mt. Bethel’s chapel and is used for church services, communion, weddings and meetings. The church’s original graveyard – now a protected cemetery at the Johnson Ferry-Lower Roswell location – still exists on the northeast corner of this busy intersection.
