Needmore 1873

<br>Freedmen moving to the new market town of Youngsville in the early 1870s occupied homes along a street they called Needmore Street. They relocated their house of worship from near the present junction of South Central Avenue and Cherokee Road to the Needmore neighborhood where Methodists and Baptist shared a building. <br><br> Missionaries from the Methodist Episcopal Church formed a congregation in Alexander City and, in 1873, Bishop Gilbert Haven appointed Rev. George Scott pastor of the new church. In 1876 the church became a charter member of the Central Alabama Conference. <br><br> In 1895 the Bethel Baptist Church congregation constructed a separate house of worship. Great Bethel Baptist Church attained distinction in the 20th century for its religious and social outreach programs under the leadership of its pastor of 45 years, Rev. Milton Nunn.