Rutherford Weekly

First Baptist Church in Forest City is the oldest institution in Forest City and on Sunday, Oct. 22, the church will celebrate its heritage, recalling its 175 years of history. A special service will be held at 11am followed by lunch at noon. Additional music and presentations will follow the luncheon. A tree will be planted on the lawn at approximately 1pm. Among special guests will be representatives from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Green River Baptist Association, of which First Baptist is a member. During the last year, the church has invited all the previous ministers to visit and to lead in the worship service. Much of the history of the church was recorded decades ago by those in the church and community. The late Virginia Rucker wrote much of the history when the church celebrated the 143rd anniversary. Rucker, credited the late Betty Jo Carpenter for her compilation of some of the history using old records and photos, 32 years ago. Their accounts of the history of the church are described below. The Church was organized in 1848, before there was a town and three years after the Southern Baptist Convention, made up of seven states, was formed in Augusta, Ga. The founding of the church began after 17 Baptists met at the home of John Bostick, not far from the church building located on Main Street today. Bostick also built the fi rst house in the area in 1835. Bostick, who later had three family members to become missionaries, was the fi rst deacon at the new church and William Harrill, a blacksmith and cabinet- maker and brother of Cynthia Harrill Bostick, was the fi rst pastor. His salary for the fi rst year was $8.37. The fi rst church was made of logs and built on a lot on what is now Vance Street and had a cemetery containing graves dating back to the 1850s. The church was named Cool Springs for two springs near the property. When the railroad was constructed and blocked access to the church, a frame building was erected in 1867 on the site that is occupied by the fl agpole in Cool Springs Cemetery. The town of Burnt Chimney, predecessor to Forest City, was six years old and the church had a membership of 80. In 1887 the town's name was offi cially changed to Forest City and two years later the church moved from the cemetery site to the corner of West Main and Church Streets. There a brick church was constructed and was the fi rst brick building in Forest City. There were 131 members of Cool Springs Baptist Church who walked as a body to the new church, with its new name Forest City Baptist Church. By 1913, the church was ready for a larger building and on Feb. 21, 1915, the congregation moved into its current building and baptized 57 new members. Two years later Main Street was paved. When Florence Baptist Church was organized in 1922, Forest City Baptist became First Baptist. In 1923 a parsonage was built on the lot where the old church had stood. It was used as a home for pastors and later as a church offi ce. By 1925, an educational building was erected with the fi nancial help of J.F. Alexander and in 1926, a loan from Jefferson Standard Insurance Company. Members moved over into Alexander Memorial Building in 1927. Shortly afterwards, the country was in a Depression and the mortgage was not paid off until 1943. Other buildings and improvement came after the Depression. The interior was extensively remodeled in 1955 and additional land was acquired for parking lots. In 1956 a new chapel building and church offi ce were completed and by 1980 renovations had been made to the education and chapel buildings and construction on a fellowship hall and mall were fi nished. ISSUE NO. 42 • October 19, 2023 ISSUE NO. 42 • October 19, 2023 • • RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408 RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408 Join Us in Honoring Veterans To Participate as an Advertiser Sponsor, Contact Mayra Littman; Advertising Representative 704-472-7892 • mayra@cfmedia.info T C 7 Our upcoming Veterans Day Tribute will recognize and thank our veterans. Will publish Will publish Thursday, Thursday, November 9th November 9th N.C. TRACTOR & FARM SUPPLY 299 Railroad Ave., Rutherfordton • 828-288-0395 Mobile: 828-429-5008 • mf1dpshehan@gmail.com SALES • SERVICE • PARTS IF YOU BUY ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WILL PAY TOO MUCH! IF YOU BUY ANYWHERE ELSE YOU WILL PAY TOO MUCH! PROUDLY SERVING RUTHERFORD, CLEVELAND, GASTON, LINCOLN, POLK COUNTIES AS THE AREAS HOMETOWN MASSEY FERGUSON DEALER. Great Selection Great Selection Our 31 st Year • Over 25,000 Weekly Readers First Baptist celebrates 175th anniversary First Baptist celebrates 175th anniversary SMALL TOWN FRIENDLY, BIG TIME RESULTS Article by Jean Gordon. Photos Contributed. 17 founding members met in 1835 First brick building. First Baptist Church Forest City present day. • John Bostick's sale of land for a token $10 provided the site for the church, he helped hew logs and build the structure; • When the brick church was being built, lack of funds halted the process and Sheriff John B. Blanton mortgaged one of his farms to provide funds to complete the building; he lost the farm. • Second building additional land donated by R.M. Harrill and Mills H. Flack; • Rev. J.H. Yarborough, served as pastor three times and donated land for the fi rst brick church; • Dr. G.F. Young, fi rst mayor of Forest City, and his son-in-law, J.F. Alexander donated land where the current church and educational building are today. • Brick for that fi rst building was handmade by Phate Hardin at his brickyard that is now Valleyview Drive. He and brothers, Joe and George, laid the brick. • A person could be censured by the church (1920) for drinking, dancing, bearing false witness, lying or using profanity; Exception was the wine for communion, for which they paid Z.M. McKinney 40 cents; • For more than 50 years, Mrs. Mamie Wilkie Meares served on the communion committee and baked the unleavened bread; • Baptisms were at Second Road River at the home of Brother Billy Martin, off Cherry Mountain Street. • Sister Beulah Harrill was fi rst organist; • Minutes show in 1899 the church had 245 members; brothers and sisters who worked at the mill were excused from Saturday services; later Saturday services were abolished. • 17 Baptists met at the home of John Bostick OTHER INTERESTING TIDBITS: John Bostick home. Biographical & Historical Note: Forest City First Baptist Church was constituted in Forest City December 1848 as Cool Springs. It was renamed Forest City Baptist Church in 1889. This church has been a member of Green River & Sandy Run (1890-present) Baptist associations. Rev. William Harrill, 1848-1867 Rev. J.H. Yarboro, (Yarborough) 1867-1869, 1881-1883, 1889-1890 Rev. A. McMahan, 1869-1871, 1874-1875 Rev. T. B. Justice, 1871-1874 Rev. H. D. Harrill, 1875-1876 Rev. Wade Hill, 1876-1879 Rev. A. L. Stough,1879-1881 Rev. G. W. Rollins,1883-1884, 1890-891 Rev. C. B. Justice, 1884-885, 1900-1901 Rev. T. Bright, 1885-1889 Rev. F. C. Hickson,1891-892, 1895-1900 Rev. Z. D. Harrill,1892-1895 Rev. M. M. Landrum,1901-1903 Rev. R. A. Hedgepath,1903-1904 Rev. Walter Wilson, 1905-1906 Rev. J. Q. Adams, 1906-1911, 1912-919 Rev. J. M. Hamrick, 1911-1912 Rev. S. N. Watson, 1919-1922 Rev. O. L. Stringfi eld, 1922-923 Dr. W. A. Ayers, 1923-1943 Interim Rev. G. L. Royster, 1941-1942 Interim Rev. R. A. McFarland, 1943-1944 Rev. W. E. Pettit, 1944-1947 Interim Rev. Wilson Padgett, 1947 Dr. H. H. Stembridge. Jr. 1947-1956 Interim Dr. J. Stephen Morrisett, 1956-1957, Feb.-July 1962 Rev. Hoke Coon, 1957-1962 Rev. Elwood Orr, 1962-1967 Rev. Dillard Mynatt, 1967-1978, 1991 Interim Rev. Albert Young, 1978-1980 Rev. Jack McGuire, 1980-1982 Interim Rev. Walter E. Boone, 1983 Interim Dr. Archie Ellis, 1983 Dr. F. Thomas Jenkins, 1983-1991 Dr. L. Joey Faucette, 1992-1998 Interim Dr. Bobby Morrow, 1998-1999, 2014 Dr. Barry Keys, 1999-2014 Interim Rev. Billy Honeycutt, 2014-2015 Dr. Garin Hill, Sept. 2015-present First Baptist Church Pastors Through The Years:

• Cover