The history of Haralson Methodist Church begins with the Garrison family, a pioneer clan whose story includes both generosity and deep tensions between father and son. According to Joy S. Garrison’s 1976 history, the church was first known as the Garrison Meeting House, built by Caleb Garrison, “a true pioneer, living his entire life at the extreme edges of civilization.” Caleb married Rachel Box in North Carolina before moving through Banks and Hall Counties, then Coweta County, and later Alabama and Arkansas—always settling in raw frontier communities.

Around 1825, while living in Banks County, Caleb attempted to whip his son Michael, who fled with only a claybank pony and a muzzle-loading shotgun. Years later, Caleb sought him out, following reports from those who had seen him. By then, Michael had settled in Haralson (then called Lick Skillet), married, and become a prosperous landowner and part-owner of a store. A devout Methodist (his brothers were Methodist ministers), Caleb donated two acres in Haralson and built a log meetinghouse. But disagreements soon arose. When members proposed holding a camp meeting, the only nearby water source was Caleb’s spring. He refused access, so Michael invited them to his own property. Matters worsened when Caleb made ten gallons of whiskey. Asked to destroy it and confess in church, he refused. He was dismissed from the congregation, tore down the meetinghouse, and used the lumber to build a barn, barring members from the land.

Once again, Michael disagreed with his father. He invited worshippers to meet on his property, where they built a brush arbor. By about 1840, Caleb had moved on to new frontiers, and Michael helped build a new church. The current Haralson Methodist sanctuary, built in 1890, stands on the same site as Michael’s church and Caleb’s original meetinghouse. In 1845, William Taylor deeded the church property, along with an adjoining cemetery and schoolhouse, to the Methodist Episcopal Church. The cemetery holds both Union and Confederate soldiers, many in unmarked graves marked only by simple head and foot stones.