Bethlehem Baptist Church

Both free and enslaved African Americans were members of the white-run Barnwell Baptist Church since the 1830s.  They petitioned Barnwell Baptist Church leaders for letters of dismissal from the church and subsequently organized Bethlehem Baptist Church in 1868.  The eclectic structure features both Queen Anne and Gothic Revival elements.  The Bethlehem Baptist Church congregation formed a private high school and was instrumental in the founding of Morris College.

KEYWORDS: BARNWELL COUNTY, NATIONAL REGISTER