Bethlehem, Georgia

Template:Short description Template:Good article Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox settlement Bethlehem is a town in Barrow County in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 715. The major employer in town is Harrison Poultry, which is the largest non-government employer in Barrow County.

The town was named after a local church, Bethlehem Methodist Church, and has a strong Christmas theme, with many of the street names being references to the nativity of Jesus, such as Mary, Joseph, and Manger. After the introduction of a 1967 stamp in Bethlehem, the town became known as a popular location for sending mail from during the holidays, as the post office sends letters marked "from Bethlehem."

History

The land that Bethlehem and the surrounding Barrow County occupies was originally occupied by Cherokee and Creek tribes. European settlers first arrived in the area in 1786.<ref name="history">Template:Cite news</ref> The Bethlehem Methodist Church was established in 1796 in what would later become Bethlehem.<ref name="kaemmerlen">Template:Cite book</ref> The church opened an adjacent camp ground that was used between 1851 and 1894 which was used as a troop mobilization center during the American Civil War.<ref name="history" /> The Confederate States Army's 16th Georgia Regiment was formed at the camp ground, and the grounds were used as a refugee camp during the war.<ref name="exemplifies">Template:Cite news</ref> During the Reconstruction era onwards the camp ground was used for various religious services.<ref name="history" /><ref name="exemplifies" /> A Christian revival meeting was taking place on August 31, 1886, when shockwaves from the 1886 Charleston earthquake were felt at an estimated MMI intensity of 6.<ref name="revival">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="mmi6">Template:Cite web</ref> The camp ground is now the current location of the Bethlehem Methodist Church, which was built in 1949.<ref name="history" />

The area was informally established as the community of Bethlehem in December 1883<ref name="exemplifies"/> as a stop along the Belmont – Monroe line<ref name="belmont_monroe">Template:Cite web</ref> of the Gainesville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad. The stop was named after the local Bethlehem Methodist Church.<ref name="krakow">Template:Cite book</ref> The church itself was named after the ancient town of Bethlehem, identified in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke as the birthplace of Jesus. The railway line was removed in 1946.<ref name="fire_railroad">Template:Cite news</ref> Bethlehem was incorporated as a town in 1902 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly "under the name and style of the town of Bethlehem".<ref name="incorporation">Template:Cite book</ref> At the time of its incorporation it was part of Walton County, but later became part of the newly formed Barrow County in 1914, which was created using land previously belonging to the nearby Gwinnett, Jackson, and Walton counties.<ref name="history" />

In 1986 a 13-year-old Bethlehem Elementary School student made national headlines<ref name="kennedy1">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="kennedy3">Template:Cite news</ref> when he stabbed his principal Murray Kennedy to death with a nail file.<ref name="kennedy2">Template:Cite news</ref> Because the white principal was killed by a black student, the incident stoked fears of racial conflict in the community, which were addressed by local black and white leaders in the community.<ref name="racial_tension">Template:Cite news</ref> The case drew the attention of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference who helped contribute to the student's defense fund.<ref name="sclc">Template:Cite news</ref> It also drew the attention of the Ku Klux Klan; 65 members of the Ku Klux Klan held a rally in front of the Winder, Georgia courthouse in protest of the murder.<ref name="kkk1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="kkk2">Template:Cite news</ref> Despite the involvement of the KKK, fears of racial tension in the community itself quickly died out.<ref name="racial_tension2">Template:Cite news</ref> After being charged as an adult,<ref name="kennedy4">Template:Cite news</ref> the student was sentenced to 15 years after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.<ref name="kennedy5">Template:Cite news</ref>

Geography

Bethlehem is located in southern Barrow County, Template:Convert south of Winder, the county seat. The town is Template:Convert west of Athens, Georgia,<ref name="gmaps_athens">Template:Google maps</ref> and Template:Convert east of Atlanta.<ref name="gmaps_atlanta">Template:Google maps</ref> According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of Template:Convert, with approximately Template:Convert of water.<ref name="Census 2010">Template:Cite web</ref> The land in and around Bethlehem forms a watershed that flows into the Apalachee River and Marburg Creek, which itself flows into the Apalachee River.<ref name="watershed">Template:Cite web</ref> Around 76.4% of the land in Bethlehem is used for agriculture or forestry, followed by 14.8% for residential use.<ref name="landuse">Template:Cite report</ref>Template:Rp

Climate

The climate of Bethlehem, as with most of the southeastern United States, is humid subtropical (Cfa) according to the Köppen classification,<ref name="koppen_map">Template:Cite web</ref> with four seasons including hot, humid summers and cool winters. July is generally the warmest month of the year with an average high of around Template:Convert. The coldest month is January which has an average high of around Template:Convert.<ref name="climatedata" />

Bethlehem receives rainfall distributed evenly throughout the year as typical of southeastern U.S. cities, with March on average having the highest average precipitation at Template:Convert, and May typically being the driest month with Template:Convert.<ref name="climatedata"/>

Demographics

2020 census

Bethlehem town, Georgia – Racial and ethnic composition
Template:Nobold

Race / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)	Pop 2000<ref name=2000CensusP004>Template:Cite web</ref>	Pop 2010<ref name=2010CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	Template:Partial<ref name=2020CensusP2>Template:Cite web</ref>	% 2000	% 2010	Template:Partial
White alone (NH)	602	489	531	84.08%	81.36%	74.27%
Black or African American alone (NH)	34	49	43	4.75%	8.15%	6.01%
Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)	1	2	1	0.14%	0.33%	0.14%
Asian alone (NH)	21	13	13	2.93%	2.16%	1.82%
Pacific Islander alone (NH)	0	0	0	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Other Race alone (NH)	0	0	1	0.00%	0.00%	0.14%
Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)	4	7	25	0.56%	1.16%	3.50%
Hispanic or Latino (any race)	54	41	101	7.54%	6.82%	14.13%
Total	716	601	715	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

As of the census of 2020, there were 715 people, 341 households, and 241 families residing in the town. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 341 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the town was 74.3% non-Hispanic white, 6.0% non-Hispanic African American, 0% non-Hispanic Native American, 1.8% non-Hispanic Asian, 0.0% non-Hispanic Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, 3.5% non-Hispanic other race, 3.5% non-Hispanic Multiracial, and 14.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race.<ref name=2020CensusP2/>

There were 341 households, out of which 42.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.2% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.3% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.06 and the average family size was 3.99.<ref name="census2020" />

In the town, the population was spread out, with 32% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 25.5% from 25 to 44, 16% from 45 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 118.9 males.<ref name="census2020" /> The median income for a household in the town was $53,281, and the median income for a family was $59,050. The median income for a non-family household was $38,043. Males had a median income of $30,417 versus $16,250 for females. The per capita income for the town was $21,969. About 2.49% of the population were below the poverty line.<ref name="census2020">Template:Cite web</ref>

Economy

Bethlehem, as with the rest of Barrow County, has a sales tax of 7%, which is composed of the 4% Georgia state sales tax and a 3% local tax.<ref name="taxrate">Template:Cite web</ref> According to the U.S. Census's American Community Survey 2020 5-year estimate, 57.3% of Bethlehem's population that are 16 years or older are in the labor force. Of these, around 56.26% of the total population being employed, and 1.38% of the total population being unemployed.<ref name="census2020" /> The largest employer in the town is Harrison Poultry, which opened in Bethlehem in 1958 and is the largest non-government employer in Barrow County with around 1,000 employees.<ref name="uga_harrison">Template:Cite web</ref>

Holiday postal tradition

A copy of a 1967 stamp featuring Madonna and the newborn Jesus

The 1967 US "Madonna and Child" stamp

Bethlehem's post office is popular during the holiday season for sending cards and letters,<ref name="holidaymail" /><ref name="500k" /> as mail sent from there will feature Bethlehem's cancellation mark and cachet, so that holiday mail sent will state that it is sent with "Greetings from Bethlehem."<ref name="mailnumbers" /> This special Bethlehem cancellation mark is made with a stamping machine called a flier canceler. Bethlehem's flier canceler is more than 100 years old and is the only one still in use by the U.S. Postal Service.<ref name="holidaymail">Template:Cite web</ref> The Bethlehem post office's special cachet features the Three Wise Men and the Star of Bethlehem.<ref name="500k">Template:Cite web</ref>

Traveling to Bethlehem to send holiday mail is a holiday tradition for visitors of the town and the Bethlehem post office sends hundreds of thousands of pieces of mail during each Christmas season.<ref name="holidaymail" /><ref name="mailnumbers">Template:Cite web</ref> The post office also has hand-stamps that customers can use to stamp "Christmas Greetings from Bethlehem" on their letters and cards before being sent.<ref name="stamp2">Template:Cite web</ref>

The tradition began in 1967, when the United States Postal Service debuted a special Christmas stamp at the Bethlehem post office with a ceremony that included then-governor of Georgia Lester Maddox and Assistant U.S. Postmaster General Richard J. Murphy.<ref name="500k" /><ref name="1967stamp">Template:Cite web</ref> While it was the sixth Christmas stamp produced by the US Postal Service, it was the first Christmas stamp to be produced in the larger commemorative size, which is almost twice the size of the previous Christmas stamp.<ref name="commemorative">Template:Cite news</ref> The stamp was a reproduction of Hans Memling's Madonna and Child with Angels.<ref name="smithsonian_stamp">Template:Cite web</ref> Despite only regularly employing the postmaster and one other part-time employee in a town that at the time had around 350 people,<ref name="postal_employee">Template:Cite news</ref> this stamp was requested by so many people that the town's postmaster hired 43 temporary workers to handle the increased workload<ref name="stamp">Template:Cite web</ref> caused by people sending in their mail to Bethlehem to be re-sent out with the Christmas stamp's first-day-of-issue date of November 6.<ref name="1967stamp" /> The Bethlehem post office ultimately sent out around 500,000 cards and letters during the 1967 Christmas season.<ref name="500k" />

Arts and culture

The town operates a library inside City Hall as part of the Piedmont Regional Library System.<ref name="library">Template:Cite web</ref> Bethlehem has no designated historic districts.<ref name="landuse" />Template:Rp The nearby Kilgore Mill Covered Bridge and Mill Site (also known as Bethlehem Bridge<ref name="kilgore1">Template:Cite web</ref>) was built in 1874<ref name="history" /> and was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and crosses over the Apalachee River, which serves as the boundary between Barrow and Walton counties.<ref name="kilgore2">Template:Cite web</ref> Bethlehem hosts an annual nativity pageant<ref name="history" /> during each Christmas season at the town square on Christmas Avenue, below the illuminated large star which represents the Star of Bethlehem.<ref name="revival" /> The original star was put in place in 1951 and measured Template:Convert across,<ref name="cuddihy">Template:Cite book</ref> and was replaced in 2009 with a star measuring Template:Convert due to excessive rust and nonfunctioning lights on the original.<ref name="star2009">Template:Cite news</ref>

Parks and recreation

The town has one designated park, the R. Harold Harrison Community Playground, which includes a playground, walking trail, and covered pavilion.<ref name="park">Template:Cite web</ref> The closest state park is Fort Yargo State Park, located approximately Template:Convert north of Bethlehem in Winder.<ref name="yargo">Template:Cite web</ref>

Government

When the town was incorporated in 1902 it was established that the town would operate as a civil township under a mayor and five councilmen, each with a term of one year.<ref name="incorporation" /> This government style was reaffirmed by an act passed during a 2004 session of the Georgia General Assembly, which added a town clerk to the council.<ref name="2004charter">Template:Cite web</ref>

In the United States House of Representatives, Bethlehem is part of Georgia's 10th congressional district.<ref name="ga10th">Template:Cite web</ref> For representation in the state government, the town is part of the Georgia State Senate's 47th district, and the 116th district for the Georgia House of Representatives.<ref name="openstates">Template:Cite web</ref>

Education

Public education for students in Bethlehem is administrated by Barrow County Schools.<ref>Template:Cite web - Compare to the district boundary map, which mentions which elementary schools feed into which high school.</ref> Bethlehem is part of the Apalachee cluster and is served by Bethlehem Elementary School, Haymon-Morris Middle School, and Apalachee High School.<ref name="schoolmap">Template:Cite web</ref> High school students in Bethlehem are also able to apply to attend two college preparatory schools in Barrow County, Sims Academy of Innovation & Technology<ref name="sims">Template:Cite web</ref> or the Barrow Arts & Sciences Academy.<ref name="basa">Template:Cite web</ref> Snodon Preparatory School was located in Bethlehem until its closure in 2019, and served students from grades 9–12.<ref name="snodon_psr">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="snodon_closed">Template:Cite web</ref> Following its closure, students in Bethlehem have the option to attend a charter school in Athens known as Foothills Education Charter High School on lottery basis.<ref name="fechs">Template:Cite web</ref> Bethlehem Christian Academy is a private school located in Bethlehem that serves Pre-K through 12th grade.<ref name="bca">Template:Cite web</ref>

Media

Template:See also As part of the North Georgia area, Bethlehem's primary network-affiliated television stations are WXIA-TV (NBC), WANF (CBS), WSB-TV (ABC), and WAGA-TV (Fox).<ref name="tv_station">Template:Cite web</ref> WGTV is the local station of the statewide Georgia Public Television network and is a PBS member station.<ref name="gpb">Template:Cite web</ref> Bethlehem is served by the weekly newspaper Barrow News Journal,<ref name="bnj_coc">Template:Cite web</ref> which also serves as Barrow County's legal organ (also called a "newspaper of public record").<ref name="legalorgan">Template:Cite web</ref> AM radio station WJBB operates their main studio out of Bethlehem.<ref name="ftc">Template:Cite web</ref>

Infrastructure

Transportation

Monroe Highway (SR 11) runs through Bethlehem in a north-to-south direction, while intersecting with SR 316 (US 29) inside the town limits, which runs from west-to-east through the town.<ref name="sr11">Template:Cite news</ref> SR 316 also intersects with SR 81 inside Bethlehem, which also runs north-to-south through the town.<ref name="sr316">Template:Cite news</ref> Many, but not all,<ref name="nativity_streets">Template:Cite web</ref> of the street names in Bethlehem are references to the nativity of Jesus and the Bible,<ref name="nativity_streets" /><ref name="georgiagov">Template:Cite web</ref> including such streets as Angel Street, Joseph Street, Manger Avenue, and Star Street.<ref name="sewer">Template:Cite web</ref>

The town lacks any form of public transportation and has limited sidewalks for pedestrian use.<ref name="landuse" />Template:Rp The nearest airport is the Barrow County Airport in the city of Winder, a small public use airport with two asphalt runways Template:Convert from Bethlehem.<ref name="airports">Template:Cite web</ref> The closest major airports are Athens–Ben Epps Airport, which is Template:Convert from Bethlehem, and Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which is Template:Convert away.<ref name="airports" />

Utilities

Electricity in the town is provided by Georgia Power,<ref name="newcomers">Template:Cite web</ref> while water utilities are provided by the nearby City of Winder.<ref name="water_utilities">Template:Cite web</ref> Unlike the rest of Barrow County which sources its water from the Bear Creek reservoir in Jackson County,<ref name="barrow_water">Template:Cite web</ref> Bethlehem and the City of Winder sources its water from three local sources: the Mulberry River, City Pond, and Fort Yargo Lake.<ref name="winder_water">Template:Cite web</ref> Bethlehem contracts directly with a private trash hauling company to handle disposal of solid waste as a free service to residents.<ref name="trash">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="newcomers" /> In 2019 the mayor of Bethlehem, Sandy McNabb, cited the lack of sewer infrastructure as "the primary reason for the lack of growth in Bethlehem."<ref name="sewer"/>

Healthcare

Bethlehem currently has no hospitals inside its town limits. The closest hospital is Northeast Georgia Health System Barrow, also known as NGHS Barrow, which is located in Winder Template:Convert north of downtown Bethlehem.<ref name="nghs_barrow">Template:Cite web</ref> Piedmont Walton is located in Monroe Template:Convert south of downtown Bethlehem.<ref name="piedmont_walton">Template:Cite web</ref> In May 2022 the Barrow County Planning Commission approved the construction of a new Northeast Georgia Medical Center facility in Bethlehem.<ref name="ngmc_bethelem">Template:Cite web</ref>

Notable people

• Jody Hice, the U.S. representative for Georgia's 10th congressional district since 2015.<ref name="hice">Template:Cite web</ref>
• Howard W. Odum, American sociologist and author.<ref name="odum">Template:Cite news</ref>

External links

• Town of Bethlehem official website
• Bethlehem United Methodist Church historical marker