The Chiirches-An Integral Part Os Community History
The oldest chinch in the
area is the Roan Mountain Bap
tist Church, which was organ
ized sometime in the late
1820's. This is proven bythe
oldest actual record, a copy
of the Minutes of the French
Broad Baptist Association for
1830, which lists Roan Moun
tain Church as having twenty
one members.
Other Baptist Churches in
the communities adjacent to
Bakersville were Bear Creek
and Rock Creek, which w ere
organized in 1844.
The oldest church in Bakers
ville is the Bakersville Baptist
Church, which was organized
in 1869. It was admitted to
the Roan Mountain Baptist As
sociation on September 9th,
1869, and was represented by
William A. Wilson, D. W.
Pannell, John Buchanan, the
pastor, and James Me Kinney.
The 1869 membership was re
ported at twenty-seven.
In 1870 a group of Metho
dists in Bakersville, mostly
engaged in the mica mining
business, petitioned the Hol
ston Conference to establish a
church in Bakersville. The
request was approved, and the
Rev. G.W. Martin came to
Bakersville to serve the church
as its first pastor. The Baker*
ville Methodist Church soon
became, in some respects,the
stronger of the two churches
in Bakersville. Although the
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first services were held in a
building which stood where
a general store now is, the
Methodists actually succeeded
in constructing a building be
fore the Baptists did.
In an old Methodist Church
book, dating back to 1870,
the following admonitions are
given:
"Brethem: Do not neglect
the assembling of yourselves to
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gethcr on the Sabbath Day.
"Friday before each quar -
terly meeting must he set apart
for fasting and praying,"
The struggling Baptist Con
gregation appears to have had
difficulty completing its first
building. It held meetings fcr
several years in the county
courthouse, then finally built
an edifice which stood on or
near the site where the Hen
THE YANCEY RECORD AND MITCHELL LEDGER JUNE 24, 1971
line Hughes Funeral Home new
stands. This first building vm~.
washed away in the May flood
of 1901. An eye witness to
this disaster, which so much
affected property in the >alley,
tells of watching the church
building as it was lifted by tie
rising flood waters and carried
down stream.
The church bell was recov
ered from the sand and debris
where the flood waters had
deposited it, and it was in
stalled in the belfry of a
new building. This second
bnilding served the church
horn about 1902 to 1925, and
then the present building was
completed. The old bell
was then installed in the bel
fry of the new building and
may still be heard each Sun
day morning.
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