Bethlehem Baptist Church – Barnwell County, South Carolina South
Carolina | SC Picture Project | Barnwell County Photos |
Bethlehem Baptist Church Bethlehem Baptist Church in Barnwell
dates from the early 1800s. By the 1850s, Barnwell’s Baptist
congregation had grown too large for the building so a new
church was built at another location. The free and enslaved
African-American members asked for and were granted permission
to use the old church building for their own services. In 1868,
the African-American congregation was formally chartered as
Bethlehem Baptist Church. The original building was built in
1829 for Barnwell Baptist Church and used by Bethlehem Baptist
Church until 1898 when the current church was erected on the
same site. Salvaged materials from the original structure were
used in the construction of the new church. SCIWAY thanks
Melissa Roberts for submitting these picture in December 2010.