A Church with Roots
Known as Old Bethel Church, it was first organized by Alligator area settlers as early as the 1820s. The original church was a small log structure located about two miles northeast of its current location. In 1855, the new building was erected to accommodate a growing number of parishioners. It is one of only a few Antebellum church buildings which have survived in rural Florida. Bethel Church has served its congregation continuously since its mid-nineteenth century founding. The building has been known in the community as the "the white church by the side of the road" for over one hundred years.