Bethel Baptist Church is a historic

Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...

church near U.S. Route 68 in

Fairview, Kentucky Fairview is a small census-designated place on the boundary between Christian and Todd counties in the western part of the U.S. state of Kentucky. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258, down from the 2010 census total of 286, with 186 l ...

. It occupies the site where

Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States of America, president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the Unite ...

President of the Confederate States of America The president of the Confederate States was the head of state and head of government of the unrecognized breakaway Confederate States. The president was the chief executive of the federal government and commander-in-chief of the Confederate A ...

, was born in 1808. The current structure was built in 1901 and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1977.

History

The congregation first formed on January 22, 1814, when fourteen members of West Fork Baptist Church branched off to form a new church. It was officially organized on March 22, 1816, with the first church located near Salubria Springs in

Christian County Christian County is the name of several counties in the United States: * Christian County, Illinois * Christian County, Kentucky * Christian County, Missouri Christian County is located in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Missouri. ...

. In 1823 the church relocated to a new site between the communities of Fairview and Pembroke. By 1884 the church had outgrown its building, and members decided to split into two churches for Fairview and Pembroke. After 70 Pembroke members formed their own church on July 3, 1884, the remaining congregants determined to buy the old Davis family property, where

had been born in 1808. Consulting with Davis, ten Fairview trustees purchased the property and ceremonially deeded it to him. Per the agreement, Davis in turn donated the lot to Bethel Baptist Church on March 10, 1886. The former Davis homestead was demolished and replaced with a new

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

church; Davis attended the dedication in fall 1886. The church was struck by lightning and burned down on August 23, 1900. The current building was erected on the same site; it was dedicated on September 29, 1901. It followed a similar Gothic Revival design as the original, being constructed of various materials and including ornate detailing and a complex roof line. The most notable difference was the addition of a rear wing. Bethel Baptist Church was added to the

on November 17, 1977.

References

Baptist churches in Kentucky Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky Gothic Revival church buildings in Kentucky Churches completed in 1901 20th-century Baptist churches in the United States National Register of Historic Places in Todd County, Kentucky Southern Baptist Convention churches 1901 establishments in Kentucky {{Kentucky-Baptist-church-stub