HALLS HISTORIC CHURCHES AND OUR COMMUNITY CHURCHES
“O Come All Ye Faithful”, this old hymn written around 1751, seems like a calling for folks to remember the “reason for the season” and act as a reminder of the importance of our churches and their traditions in our way of life for the past two centuries.
Our earliest immigrants, the Pilgrims, didn’t believe in the concept of Christmas. The Pilgrims, or Separatists who established Plymouth Colony, did not celebrate Christmas because they could not find any literal references in the Bible that Jesus was born on December 25th (or any other specific date, for that matter). The Pilgrims actually felt that Christmas had become a pagan holiday, as it commonly entailed feasting and drinking to excess.
In fact, Christmas was banned in Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1659, and anyone caught celebrating the holiday would be subject to a 5-shilling fine. It wasn’t until 1856 that Christmas was legalized in Massachusetts Bay Colony.
As settlers moved south through the Cumberland Gap or from the east through the Smokey Mountains, they brought their religion and religious beliefs with them. As settlements grew, they placed an emphasis on two pillars, education for their children and the freedom to worship as they wished. Practical matters seem to require that they remained linked in our small community. Early schools also functioned as meeting places, “community centers” and early church buildings.
From historical records and previous publications let’s take a look at our earliest and largest churches.
In the minutes of the Holston Baptist Association it shows that in 1786 the association was formed with seven Baptist churches one of these churches was called the Beaver Creek Baptist Church, now known as Beaver Dam Baptist Church.
In Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee (1887) reports: “It was not long until the Baptists had outnumbered both the Presbyterians and the Methodists, and they have ever since maintained that position. As the history of the denomination in Knox County is largely the history of the Tennessee Association it will be traced in connection with that body.
On the 25th of December in 1802, delegates from 19 Baptist Churches, formerly belonging to the Holston Association, assembled at the Beaver Creek meeting-house in Knox County, and organized the Tennessee Association. Of the 19 churches represented at this meeting five were located in Knox County – Beaver Ridge, Hickory Creek, Fork of the Holston and French Broad, Little Flat Creek and Beaver Creek.”
A century later the Midland Baptist Association meeting mentions othermembers including Clear Springs, Fairview, Piney Grove, and from Halls, Pleasant Gap, Pleasant Hill, Salem and Texas Valley.
We’ll begin with what is believed to be one of the oldest churches in Knox County and one of the oldest in Tennessee – Beaver Dam Baptist.
Beaver Dam Baptist Church
Beaver Creek Baptist church was established in 1786. It seems the name of the church was changed first from Beaver Creek to Beaver Dam (1790), and then back to Beaver Creek (1793); later it became Beaver Dam Creek (1826) and finally became Beaver Dam in 1835.
Time and fire have worked against the records for that period. The first minutes that can be read were written in 1819 and signed by John Mynatt as clerk. The next written minutes of the church begin with the year 1827 and continue through 1832. The page below is from the Beaver Dam Treasurer’s Book for expenses for December 1893.
The first meeting place of Beaver Dam Baptist Church was in Smith Peterson’s store which still stands today at the corner of Andersonville Pike and Gordon Smith Road. The meeting place was later moved to the corner of Emory Road and Andersonville Pike (Halls Crossroads). Then in 1847, member John Mynatt gave the church $50 and a tract of land at the corner of Maynardville Highway and Emory Road (the church’s present location).
Under the leadership for Pastor Joshua Frost (pastor from 1849-1851) the congregation’s first church building was completed on the new land. It served as the church’s house of worship for 100 years – until 1948.
During the Civil War, the buildings were used as an emergency hospital for both the North and South to quarter troops. Church services were not held during June and July of 1863.
Soon after the war, Beaver Dam hosted the first meeting of the Knox County Baptist Association with 15 messengers representing 19 churches.
In 1870, the church had chronically low finances and building repair needs. The church met those needs in unique ways. J.C. Mynatt and J.M. McCloud gave to the church the proceeds of one-acre of harvested wheat. William Smith gave one-half acre’s proceeds.
The 20th century was a season of unparalleled growth for Beaver Dam. Electric lights were installed in 1927. In 1935-36, the church built its first education structure, a group of classrooms built to the side of the sanctuary for Sunday School classes that had been organized since 1878. Also in 1936, the church decided to begin holding preaching services every Sunday and the minister’s salary was increased in 1937 to $500 a year.
The first Bible School was recorded in the minutes of 1942.
In 1946, with $3,500, the church started construction of its parsonage. The following year, the church took out a loan for $2,000 from Fountain City Bank to complete the parsonage.
The year 1948 was a sad year for Beaver Dam. Fire swept the building at 7 p.m. on October 20, reducing the 100-year old landmark to ashes leaving only a few benches, chairs, and the piano (carried from the building before it collapsed). The church bell was saved from the ruins and is now part of a sign at the corner of Andersonville Pike and Emory Rd.
After the fire, services were held at the Halls High School and the total church membership numbered about 250. A contract was let to Walter Johnson Contractors for $43,118 and the church took out a loan at Fountain City Bank for $30,000 at 4-percent interest. Groundbreaking was held in the summer of 1949 and by Christmas the building was ready for its first service. The buildings were strictly an educational wing and did not have a sanctuary as such, so the congregation met in a long room in the building.
On December 26, 1954 the note was burned and the educational building was dedicated. In 1955, the church had experienced so much growth that the need for a real sanctuary became urgent. The contract was let to R.L. Wise for $78,000 and the first service to be held in the new sanctuary was on Christmas Day in 1955.
A new educational building was added to the church in 1983 that included classrooms, a large meeting structure and kitchen facilities.
On June 12, 1993, the church family moved into the present worship center, allowing the congregation to return to one Sunday morning worship service. As the church continued to grow they added a second worship service on Sunday and in December 2001 a new space was added for preschool, children and youth Sunday School. In the picture below you can see both the new and old sanctuaries.
Salem Baptist Church
Salem Baptist Church was organized in 1877 at Flint Hill School. The original name of the Church was Guesses Creek, named for a creek that flowed by the Flint Hill School.
If the group followed the Beaver Dam Baptist Church’s practice of meeting on the third Saturday of the month, Guesses Creek Baptist Church would have been organized on Saturday, May 18, 1877.
The church was received into the Tennessee Association of Baptists at the Association’s annual meeting at Indian Ridge Baptist Church in Grainger County on October 4, 1877. At that time the church had 33 members.
According to oral history, the church continued to meet in Flint Hill School for a period of time. The members envisioned a pressing need for a church to be placed further westward in the community. They moved to a large blacksmith shop near Bill Graybeal’s spring, located at the present intersection of McCloud and Fort Sumter roads.
In 1879 Sunday School was organized and met for four months of the year. William Graybeal gave land for a public school on October 25, 1882. This land at the corner of Hill Road near the intersection with Fort Sumter became Fort Sumter School. It is said that the church used this school to worship from 1882 to 1887.
The first permanent building was built in 1889 on 3 acres given by William Weaver, Hiram Sumter and William Graybeal. It was a one-room weatherboard structure. When the members moved into the building they changed the name from Guesses Creek to Salem Baptist Church. A cemetery surrounded the new building. One of the charter members, Mrs. Nancy Hopper Sumter, widow of James Nelson Sumter, was buried in the cemetery. The last charter member, Mr. Thomas J. McCloud died in August 1941.
Salem moved from the Tennessee Baptist Association to the Midland Baptist Association before 1908. By 1918, Salem had grown to 176 members and in 1919 they added rooms to the rear of the building.
In 1929 Salem began having services every Sunday and added a Sunday evening service. In 1930, Salem’s association changed again from Midland to Knox County Baptist Association. In 1932 Sunday School rooms were added. In 1935 a baptismal pool was built inside the church and in 1935 electric lights were installed.
In 1949 the congregation voted to build a new building and in 1950 they voted that the church be built with brick instead of wood and to pipe water into the building from a well from the old Fort Sumter school property. A dedication service was held on January 4, 1953 in the new building. An educational building was added in May 1957. A parsonage was built on land given by Mr. Fred Bright in 1959.
In 1965 Salem started a building fund to build a new auditorium and voted to purchase additional land for parking from Mr. Harve Graybeal. The first services were held on June 7, 1970 in the new building. By 1974 Salem had 1,000 members and was growing fast. The old auditorium was later demolished and an educational building added and dedicated in 1979.
Salem celebrated their 100-year anniversary in May 1977. In 1979 a new educational building was dedicated. In 1984 the parking facilities were doubled with the paving in front of the church and in 1984 the church purchased additional acreage.
In 1995 the church purchased the Ezell property across Hill Road from its present location. By 2000 the church sold their old site minus the cemetery to Halls Christian Church whose previous facility had been purchased by Mynatt’s Funeral Home. (Mynatt’s was the first funeral home in Halls established around 1900.) Salem also purchased two additional parcels to provide a better entrance to the church. The new church would include a sanctuary, educational and administrative space. It would accommodate at least 1,000 people.
During this period of exceptional growth, Salem had a single Senior Pastor, Rev. John Holland. In December 2001, Rev. Holland announced his retirement after 34 years of service. He had baptized 1,185 people and added 1,506 to the church roll. Membership had grown from 696 to 2,080. In April 2001, the Building Committee presented a recommendation to build a new sanctuary, educational and administrative space for approximately $6.3 million. The church would need to borrow $3.5 million. Salem approved the recommendation.
The new church was finished and on November 2, 2003 the members met at the old sanctuary and then walked together to the new church and worshiped for the first time.
On May 20, 2007 the church celebrated their 130th anniversary. Salem is approaching their 150th celebration in 2027.
From the initial 25 members who left Beaver Dam in 1877 to nearly 2,500 today, Salem has grown to become one of the foundations of our community.
Sharon Baptist Church
In March of 1871, 46 people met to organize Sharon Baptist Church. Their first meeting place was a school house at the corner of Bishop and Emory roads in the Knoxville, TN area. In 1873, they were given a one and one-half acre site on what is now Pedigo Rd. The first church was a weather-boarded house 46 feet long, 30 feet wide and 14 feet high with a cost between $600 and $1000. The year was 1882. We have a few pictures of Sharon’s pastors’ from that period including Rev. Steven Johnson (1891-1894) and Dr. B.L. Stanfill (1894-1901 / 1902-1907).
In 1895, a vestibule 8 feet by 10 feet was built with Sunday School rooms added in 1934.
The Trusler Educational Building was dedicated in April of 1959 and the Dunkel Wing was built at the rear of the Trusler building and dedicated on January 5, 1969.
In September of 1975, ground was broken and on October 10, 1976, the new sanctuary was dedicated. In April of 1977 the old sanctuary was demolished. A permanent memorial was built with bricks and other materials from the old building and constructed at the site where the bell tower is located. Additional educational space was constructed in 1979 between the Trusler Building and the entrances to the Dunkel Wing and the new sanctuary. This area was named Robertson Hall. Also, a new fellowship center was finished on the lower level. In 1989, extensive repairs and renovations were made to the entire church.
In 1997 the Church established goals for three phases: to pay off the church debt, to remodel the sanctuary, and to look forward to the construction of a ministry center. Those goals have been met and the new Ministry Center campaign to pay off the debt of that building continues.
Other Churches from the LaRue Collection
There are a few other churches in Halls that are at least 100 years old. The ones mentioned in the Midland Baptist Association 1905 meeting picture above include Clear Springs, Fairview, Piney Grove, Pleasant Gap, Pleasant Hill and Texas Valley. Pleasant View Missionary Baptist was organized in 1885.
From the LaRue collection we have some pictures from the past 100 years.
Highland View Baptist Church
Highland View Baptist was organized in 1908 and the building shown erected in 1934 when Norris Freeway was built. Rev. William (Alex) Powell was the first pastor of Highland View.
Several of our churches have changed locations, denominations and names over the past 100 years. The Salem Baptist church building of the 1970’s became Halls Christian Church and now is Crossroads Baptist Church. The original Mayes Chapel Baptist has become the Living Water’s Missionary Baptist Church.
PLEASANT HILL BAPTIST CHURCH
PLEASANT GAP BAPTIST CHURCH
NEW PLEASANT GAP BAPTIST CHURCH
MAYES CHAPEL BAPTIST CHURCH
Halls Crossroads Places of Worship Today
Baptist churches, in all forms, still outnumber all other denominations today but in the past 20+ years many others have found a new home in Halls. They include 7th Day Adventist, Catholic, Apostolic and Jehovah’s Witness. Although not part of the original LaRue collection the pictures below represent most of the churches in Halls today.
Beaver Creek Covenant Brethern Church
Beaverdale Baptist Church
Black Oak Ridge Baptist Church
Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church
Cedar Ridge Baptist Church
Christ United Methodist Church
Cornerstone Baptist Church
Crossroads Church
Crossroads Apostolic Church
Crossroads Baptist Church
Crossroads Presbyterian Church
Emory Valley Missionary Baptist Church
Fair Havens Baptist Church
Faithway Baptist Church
Glennwood Baptist Church
Grace Baptist Church
Halls Baptist Church
Kingdom Hall of the Jehovah’s Witness
Living Waters Missionary Baptist Church
Mynatt Road Missionary Baptist Church
North Knoxville Seventh Day Adventist Church
Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church
Redemption Harvest Church
River of Hope Church
Shepherd of the Hills Baptist Church
Sonlight Baptist Church
Saint Albert the Great Catholic Parish
Texas Valley Baptist Church
Union Baptist Church
We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading about Halls Churches both old and new.
Note: If your church is not included and you would like for us to include a picture and/or the history in our archives please send an email to hchmmuseum2@gmail.com and we’ll contact you for more information.
As always, this information is presented with the help of many others. We thank them for their assistance.
Contributions and Sources:
- Goodspeed’s History of Tennessee
- Carolyn Cocca’s “History of Halls” dated February 5, 1995 that was commissioned by the Halls Business and Professional Association
- Beaver Dam Baptist Church website
- Salem Baptist Church website
- Sharon Baptist Church website
- “History of Salem Baptist” by Connie Sharpe with Rev. John Holland, Millie Bledsoe Norris and Ginger Asqwith
- LaRue Collection of Photographs