Road Trip 3: Shady Dale City Hall and Providence Baptist

Driving southeast on 142 we found Shady Dale's old city hall and took a turn on Railroad Street to Providence Baptist Church.


This is pretty much the sum total of Downtown Shady Dale, a welcome bit splendor in the county.


It's on Main (Highway 83). You can see it from Highway 142.


Stopped us in our tracks. I suppose there was some downtown once but maybe not.


That's not all there was to see in Shady Dale and we didn't see it all.


But we did turn south on Railroad Street...


...and found Providence Baptist Church and cemetery. It was immaculate, they were having a wedding latter in the afternoon. Providence Baptist Church is on Facebook.


From the marker:

PROVIDENCE BAPTIST CHURCH
This church was constituted December 15, 1810, the second oldest in Jasper County, with David Montgomery (Revolutionary War soldier), William Green, and Green Bailey as presbytery. David Montgomery was pastor from 1810 to 1828. Timothy Landrum (Revolutionary War soldier) gave 10 acres of land, one mile west of here, where Providence Church was first erected. It moved to this site March 12, 1832 to be on the stagecoach route through Shady Dale. This building was erected on four acres of land given by James Beeland.
Charter members were: Jacob Mercer (Revolutionary War soldier) and his wife, Jael; Martin Stanley and his wife, Polly; James Brown and his wife, Martha; Elizabeth Green; Rebecca Walden; John Ferrell; Elkaney Denson; Joshua Newton; James Richards.
First Deacons were Martin Stanley and James Brown. First Clerk was James Richards. Early pastors were James Henderson, James Wilkerson, John Bogan, James Green, James Carter, W.G. Horsley, Asa Marshall (great-grandson of Daniel Marshall, founder of Kiokee Church in Columbia County, the first Baptist Church in Georgia).
079-6A
GEORGIA HISTORICAL COMMISSION
1957

Shady Dale, Georgia.

Eatonton next.