Bethesda Baptist Church

Front: Bethesda Baptist Church organized in 1867 when African American members of Welsh Neck Baptist Church were granted dismissal to form their own congregation. The church’s first minister was Rev. James Hamilton. Bethesda was originally part of the Gethsemane Baptist Association and later joined the Pee Dee Association. The church cemetery is located north of here behind Welsh Neck Cemetery. Reverse: Bethesda Baptist Church had as many as 1,300 members in the 1880s and was for a time the largest black Baptist congregation in the Pee Dee. Nearby Union Baptist Church was formed by Bethesda members in 1885. The current church bulding was constructed in 1971 and is the fourth to have served the congregation. The previous three churches burned in 1871, 1934, and 1969.