Bethel Baptist Church

TENNESSEE COLONY (ANDERSON COUNTY)

The Bethel Baptist congregation was established in 1872 by formerly enslaved men and women who founded the small rural community of Bethel in Anderson County. In the early twentieth century, congregation member Benjamin Cummins donated land for the construction of a church. A wood-frame building was erected on the site and continues to serve the congregation today. In 1984, the original structure was encased in a brick shell, giving the church its current appearance.

A structural assessment conducted in 2019 revealed significant structural issues, including a leaking roof, a deteriorating bell tower, sagging top plates on several walls, and damage to the foundation’s piers and sills.

In 2022, Bethel Baptist Church was awarded a $75,000 grant from Preservation Texas’s Rural African-American Heritage Grants Program. This funding will support critical repairs to the roof and bell tower and provide reinforcement for the building’s structural walls.

On May 17, 2025, the State Board of Review approved a National Register of Historic Places nomination for Bethel Baptist Church. The nomination is now under review by the National Park Service for official designation.