Newspaper: The Community of Bethlehem, Louisiana Claiborne Parish, Lousiana Submitted for the LAGenWeb Archives by: Laura Bonde Date: May 2002 ********************************************** Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ********************************************** There is no indication on the clipping of the date or paper in which this originally appeared. --------------------------------------------------------------------- The December sky in North Louisiana is the clearest, the brightest, the bluest of blues. The air is brisk during the day and crisp at night. The leaves have turned and most are already forming blankets of browns, cast into nature's infinite designs along fencerows and in the lush thickness of the rolling forest lands. The greens of the pines from striking contrast against these patterns and the sky and the wind whispers its way through the hills and the barren farm land, sometimes with reckless abandon and at other times with the peacefulness of a welcomed winter night. The scene is Bethlehem. It's not the scene most know about. In fact, few people remember. But it is worth remembering, especially for Louisianans with a rich and treasured heritage, and for those who strive constantly to preserve this heritage. Bethlehem, La. in Claiborne Parish has almost disappeared. What used to be a settlement of some 400 pioneers who moved there from the Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee is now no more than a church and a cemetery. A few housed are scattered about, but not within sight of the church. Located north of the Minden-Homer Highway and south of the Germantown Road, this setting is a reminder of another time, a time when children laughed and played, farmers came in to the general store and people gathered on Sunday morning to worship and have occasional dinners on the grounds. Bethlehem Church is a neat, freshly painted structure facing out across the road toward the cemetery. The grounds are immaculate. The grass is dormant but awaits the spring rains and the warmth of another growing season. This rural church was at one time both a school and a church. The 400 residents were not clustered around the church but scattered throughout the area and serviced by a post office established on Oct. 30, 1891, long after many of the residents settled the area. The land for the church and cemetery was donated by James CURRY after the Civil War. The first structure, a rude, one-room log hut was the beginning of the structure that now houses a Methodist congregation. In the beginning , and being a union church, any denomination that wanted to worship there could do so. David WADE, with help from Joe MADDRY, Jim MILLER, and others erected the first structure and it became the center of life in Bethlehem. The names of preachers and settlers are emblazoned on the pages of silent history-HOLLENSHEAD, MADDRY, HARRIS, WADE, CURRY, WINGFIELD, JACKSON, WARWICK, HARP, STONECIPER, COX, LOWDERMILK, OWENS, SHERMAN, NESBIT, AND MORELAND. # # #