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Alexander City 150th
a small log church for Baptists of color. According to a historical marker for Needmore, the church was begun by “freedmen” moving to the new market town in the early 1870s: “Freedmen moving to the new market town of Youngsville in the early 1870s occupied homes along a street they called Needmore Street. They relocated their house of worship from near the present junction of South Central Avenue and Cherokee Road to the Needmore neighborhood where Methodists and Baptists shared a building. Missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church formed a congregation in Alexander City and, in 1873, Bishop Gilbert Haven appointed Rev. George Scott pastor of the new church. In 1876 the church became a charter member for the Central Alabama Conference. In 1895 the Bethel Baptist Church congregation constructed a separate house of worship. Great Bethel Baptist Church attained distinction in the 20th century for its religious and social outreach programs under the leadership of its pastor of 45 years, Rev. Milton Nunn.” In August of 1894, the Presbyterians completed their organization and constructed a house of worship on the corner of Tallapoosa Street and Main Street. The building was completed just in time for a special Thanksgiving Day service in 1895. The Presbyterian Church was described by writer Jennie Lee Kelley as a “picturesque frame church.” It remained in its location until the congregation constructed a more “adequate and modern” building on the hill on Jefferson Street. The old church was remolded into an office building soon after. The Presbyterian Church was one of the remaining buildings after the 1902 fire that ravaged downtown Alexander City. The Methodist Church was a loss. According to Kelley, The Baptist Church offered for the Methodist congregation to worship with Baptists until they could rebuild. The Methodists starting rebuilding in 1903 off Green Street, where the First United Methodist Church’s Arbor Campus still sits. According to Kelley’s writings, Catholics gathered in
The story continues on Page 12
June 2022
Submitted photo
The First Baptist Church of Alexander had humble beginnings. This is the first house of worship constructed by the Baptists in Alexander City.
