Bethesda, Tennessee is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in rural southeastern
Williamson County,
Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
.
History
According to a 1988 study of Williamson County historical resources, conducted by staff of the
Tennessee Historical Commission
The Tennessee Historical Commission (THC) is the State Historic Preservation Office for the U.S. state of Tennessee. Headquartered in Nashville, it is an independent state agency, administratively attached to the Department of Environment and Co ...
:
Bethesda was formed along Rutherford Creek in the early 1800s as a small community serving the needs of area farms. Several early settlers built log and frame homes in the area such as the Bond and Steele families. The Bethesda Methodist Church was organized in 1832 and a brick church was constructed in 1844. Of the homes constructed in the Bethesda area the William Steele House is the most notable and unaltered. No historic commercial buildings survive.
In the spring of 1861 the Webb Guards company of the Tennessee infantry was raised from the towns of
Triune,
College Grove,
Peytonsville and Bethesda. The company was then organized as Company D of the
20th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry.
[
]
Properties on the National Register of Historic Places
The William Steele House is located on Bethesda-Arno Road, 1/2 mile east of Bethesda. It was built in 1850 and was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1988.[
]
Sites
The locations in Bethesda include Bethesda Elementary School, Bethesda Market & Deli, and the now closed Bethesda High School building that is adjacent to the elementary school and now serves as a spot for recreational basketball and baseball. The school's old library is also utilized and is the Bethesda Public Library. In April 2022, runaway fugitive couple Casey and Vicky White also passed through Bethesda on their escape and abandoned their car on Banner Adams Road on the outskirts of town.
Notable people
* Ida Horton East
Ida Horton East (March 19, 1842–February 4, 1915) was an American philanthropist and social reformer. She was active in the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.).
Early life and ...
(1842-1915), philanthropist
References
External links
Bethesda Elementary School
Gallery
Bethesda_Road_Tennessee.jpg, Cross Keys Baptist Church, February 2007.
Unincorporated communities in Williamson County, Tennessee
Unincorporated communities in Tennessee
{{WilliamsonCountyTN-geo-stub