Bethel Baptist Church

  Bethel Baptist, organized in 1872, was the first Baptist church organized in Hartselle.  George Hartselle, for whom the town was named, was instrumental in the beginning of the church.  The church came into being from a conversation between Rev. J.D. McClanahan and George Hartselle, who donated the land on which the church's first building was erected.  Rev. McClanahan was the first superintendent of the Sunday School that was originally held in a school building and grew into an organized church.

  After a period of worship in the old log building, a frame building was constructed in 1914.  A new church facility was began in 1952 and has been added to and updated over the years to become Bethel's present house of worship.

First Baptist Church

  When nine persons having no church met in 1883 in the Presbyterian Church they organized Hartselle Baptist Church, now known as First Baptist Church.  The first pastor was Rev. Charles Woodroph Hare.  First Baptis became a member of the Muscle Shoals Baptist Association with J.D. McClanahan as their delegate.

  In the early years, the church practiced strong discipline.  The records show that in 1885, one of the members had been seen "signing whiskey petitions" and had been seen "drunk on the streets of Hartselle."  Following these incidents, the church voted to withdraw fellowship from him.  In 1889, felowship from the church was withdrawn from one brethren who had been caught "swearing". 

  In 1886, the church moved out of the house of worship of their Presbytery brethren and built their first church building on the corner of Hammitt and Hickory St.  This building was torn down and replaced with a new, larger building in 1913.  It was described in a 1914 edition of The Birmingham Ledger as "The handsomest Baptist Church building in the whole of North Alabama."  The church purchased four acres of wooded land at the corner of North Sparkman and Woodland Street in 1949 and launched plans for the next church building.  The facilities have been updated and added to many times over the years to become what they are today.

Forrest Chapel United Methodist Church

  One of the first churches of any denomination in the Hartselle area was Forrest Chapel Methodist which was founded in the early 1820's.  The church was located about five miles west of Hartselle in a one-room building.

  In 1915, construction began on a new building.  Seats were taken from the old building and used in the new facility until they were replaced in 1937.  When the new seats were built, they were varnished by the Women's Society of Christian Service, organized in 1935.

Salem United Methodist Church

  Salem United Methodist Church was established in 1909 by Rev. George W. Powell who was also the first pastor as well as the first person to be buried in the church cemetery in 1911. 

  The first church building burned in 1911 and was replaced by a two-story structure.  In addition to housing the congregation, it was the home of the Oddfellows, a fraternal organization, which met in the second story of the building until they disbanded during the Great Depression.  The present church building was completed in 1949 with the present sanctuary and four Sunday School rooms.  Church services were held in the Old Collins School building while the men of the church built the new facility.

First Church of God

  The First Church of God had its beginning in 1916.  In 1891, a company of preachers and singers conducted a revival at Mt. Tabor where a number of people were converted.  The first Church of God in the area was established from this.  The confgregation began holding revivals which later developed into an old-fashioned camp meeting.  It was from this time that the Church of God was institued in Hartselle.

  In 1918 the congreation built its first church on property purchased from First Christian Church on North Milner Street and remained there for 10 years.  In 1927 the church sold this property and built a new building on the corner of Pine and Aparkman Streets.  In 1983, the church bought 14 acres of land on West Main Street and built its present facility.

Patillo Street Church of God

  Pattillo Street Church of God was charted in 1948.  Its first church services were held in homes of the congregation until 1949 when they moved into a small block sanctuary.  In 1962 the church razed this building and erected a frame building in just one week then later building a brick building.  Other major remodelings have taken place to shape the building we know today.

Hartselle Church of Christ

  An old-fashioned "Pro-tracted Meeting," more commonly known by Christian denominations in this area as a "Tent Revival," was the forerunner of Sparkman Street Church of Christ in Hartselle.  The church was formed in 1920 by an interested group of citizens, uner the advisement of J. Petty Ezell, minister of Jackson Street Church of Christ in Decatur.  At the end of a revival meeting partially conducted by Bro. Ezell, 17 Christians, many of whom had been saved at the revival, began to worship together.  They founded the body of the Church of Christ in Hartselle as it is today.

  In the first year of the church's inception, its members were able to erect a building on the corner of Rock and Hammett Streets.  After World War II, the church was able to purchase property on Rodgers and High School Streets where a new building was erected and occupied in 1947.  A new auditorium was built in 1972 and the old and new buildings were merged into one.

Westview Church of Christ

  In 1963, a group of 22 member of the Church of Christ met to discuss plans to affiliate themselves with a new congregation.  The members made up the congregation of the newly formed Westview Church of Christ and continued to meet in a members home until its new building was completed at the corner of Vaughn Bridge Road and Holloway Street.