Bethesda, Tennessee

Bethesda
Unincorporated community
Bethesda Show map of Tennessee Bethesda Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 35°45′40.4″N 86°47′34.2″W
Country	United States
State	Tennessee
Counties	Williamson
Elevation	799 ft (244 m)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)

Bethesda, Tennessee is an unincorporated community in rural southeastern Williamson County, Tennessee.[1]

History

According to a 1988 study of Williamson County historical resources, conducted by staff of the Tennessee Historical Commission:

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.[2]

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.[3]

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 in 1988.[4]

Bethesda is also the location of Smithson-McCall Farm, which was listed on the National Register in 2007.[1][4]

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 (1842-1915), philanthropist

References

1. Dr. Carroll Van West and Elizabeth H. Moore (November 16, 2006). "NRHP Inventory-Nomination: Smithson-McCall Farm / Smithson-Fisher Farm; Happy Hills Farm; WM. 1043; Fisher Farm; Bag End Farm" (PDF). National Park Service.
2. Thomason Associates and Tennessee Historical Commission (February 1988). "Historic Resources of Williamson County (Partial Inventory of Historic and Architectural Properties), National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination". National Park Service. p. 22.
3. McMurray, W J (1904). History of the Twentieth Tennessee Regiment Volunteer Infantry, C.S.A. Tennessee: Publication Committee. p. 103.
4. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.

External links

• Bethesda Elementary School

Gallery

• 
  Cross Keys Baptist Church, February 2007.