Beulah Baptist Church breaks ground
By Linda Sosbee

(l-r) David Eisenreich, project manager; Susan Caughman; Ralph Walden, architect; Jay Floyd; Ann Wilkes; Homer Rose; Mason Brooks; Terry Wells; and Brad Bessent break ground for Beulah Baptist Church's new facility.

Beulah Baptist Church on Garners Ferry Road broke ground Saturday, October 14, 2006, for its new facilities. The expansion plans include a 190-seat youth building, additional classrooms and restrooms, an amphitheater plaza, covered walkways, and more parking.

Plans for the expansion were developed by Building Committee members Ann Wilkes, Mason Brooks, Jay Floyd, Sherry Koon, and Homer Rose.

Beulah is celebrating its 200th anniversary during all of 2006. Highlights of the church's history include:

+ April 26, 1806 - Thirty people meet at the Minerva Academy in Hopkins and constitute Beulah Baptist Church. Dr. Jonathan Maxcy, first president of SC College (now USC), preaches the first sermon.

+ 1829 - Beulah moves to a new building on the east side of Cedar Creek.

(l-r) Kim McLemore, Bryson McLemore, Martha Motley, Nancy Frierson, Roy Frierson, Danny Sosbee Jr., Lois Hinds, Susan Caughman, Minnie Watts, Mason Brooks, Barbara Jean Epps, Wade Epps, Cheryl Phelps, Danny Sosbee Sr., Barbara Motley, Michael Brooks, and Beth Brooks were members of Beulah Baptist Church in 1986 when the current building was constructed.

+ April 30, 1924 - Charles Koon, Mahlon Motley, and Willie Sloan, killed by a tornado which struck Horrell Hill School, are laid to rest in the Beulah cemetery.

+ 1962 - Dr. William C. Allen publishes the first history of Beulah.

Beulah Baptist Church is located at 9487 Garners Ferry Road at Horrell Hill. Visit their website at www.beulahbaptist.com.