According to The Heritage of Carroll County, Georgia 1826–2001, Smith Chapel Methodist was founded in 1851 by Rev. John Thurman on land he owned near Bowdon in Carroll County. Rev. Thurman, a distinguished early Methodist minister, had preached the first sermon in Marthasville (now Atlanta) shortly after its founding, before moving his family to Carroll County around 1850. His roots ran deep here, and the cemetery beside the church holds 47 Thurmans and their descendants.

Originally called Mount Pleasant, the first church was a log structure with two doors, a large fireplace, and no nails—floors were pegged with hickory pins, and tallow candles lit the pulpit. In 1875, a more modern building replaced it, serving as both a church and a school. When Rev. Seaborn Smith succeeded Rev. Thurman, the congregation renamed it Smith Chapel in his honor. On September 10, 1892, Rev. Thurman sold the church and cemetery to the trustees for five dollars. The present sanctuary, the third on the site, was completed in 1896 under the direction of Rev. Thurman’s son, James L. Thurman.

The membership once included many local families—Thurmans, Parkers, Gambles, Davenports, Alexanders, Moons, Robinsons, and others. Over time, as members joined other congregations, numbers dwindled, but descendants maintained the property through a memorial association. In 1988, Emory and Wilma Marlow purchased and lovingly restored both the church and cemetery, preserving them as a tribute to the vibrant community that thrived here for over a century.

Sadly, this piece of Georgia’s rural heritage met a tragic end. On January 4, 2021, Carroll County deputies responded to a fire at Smith Chapel. The sanctuary was fully engulfed, and despite efforts by Carroll County Fire Rescue, the structure could not be saved. Investigators determined the fire was intentionally set, and suspects were later arrested, but the loss of the 1896 building can never be undone.

Though the sanctuary is gone, the history of Smith Chapel, its devoted founders, the generations who worshiped here, and the families resting in its cemetery remains an enduring chapter in Carroll County’s story.