The present Kingston Methodist Church traces its roots back to Connesena Methodist Church, established in 1845, about two miles west of the church’s current location. The original name came from nearby Connesena Creek, itself named after a Cherokee chief whose name means “Winding Serpent.” Bartow County—originally called Cass County—was formed from Cherokee County in 1832, just one year after Cherokee County was carved from former Cherokee land through a so-called “treaty” following the discovery of gold in North Georgia in 1828. The land for the original church was donated by Major B.F. Reynolds.

The early structure was described as “an excellent wooden building,” featuring a large gallery for African American attendees, many of whom were enslaved at the time. A massive fireplace stood at one end for heat. The church was sustained financially by “an open collection box installed in the office of the old stagecoach stop at Major Wooley’s Station.” After the railroad arrived in 1848, the little village of Kingston began to grow rapidly, prompting the relocation of the church to its current site in 1854. That wooden church stood until 1906, when the present brick structure was completed and formally dedicated by Bishop Lovick Pierce.

The Civil War brought hardship, destruction, and loss to Kingston, which was unfortunately situated directly along the railroad and in Sherman’s path. General Sherman visited the town twice—first on May 19, 1864, and again on November 8, 1864, following the Battle of Atlanta. It was during this second visit that Sherman requested permission from General Grant to begin his March to the Sea, and promptly burned the town as the campaign began. According to a local newspaper article from the 1960s, Kingston Methodist was the only church left standing. During the war, the church was used by both Union and Confederate forces as a hospital, and a Confederate cemetery just a short distance away bears witness to the lives lost.

In the aftermath of the war, the church opened its doors to all denominations, offering comfort to a population that had been devastated by conflict and displacement.

Despite its turbulent past, the church thrived in the decades that followed, erecting the sanctuary you see today in 1906. One of its most significant architectural features is the large bell, cast in England, which was said to be “the best that could be had.” Its clear, musical chimes can still be heard for four or five miles on a quiet day. The bell was presented to the church by John Pendleton King of Augusta, a U.S. Senator, former president of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, and the man for whom the town of Kingston was named.

We are grateful to a local newspaper article from the Methodist archives at Emory, written in the 1960s, from which much of this history was drawn.

Church histories like this one are not just inspiring—they’re full of Georgia’s rich and often dramatic past, with tales of gold rushes, Cherokee land cessions, the Civil War, and the burning of towns by Union troops. What might appear to be just another brick church turns out to be a powerful landmark of resilience, memory, and faith. We’re proud to see that Kingston Methodist Church is still ringing that historic bell and holding regular services, more than 150 years after it first opened its doors.