Calvary United Methodist
Jasper County | Organized in 1857
Calvary Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1857, first meeting on the Madison Road about two miles north of Shady Dale. A small cemetery still marks the site where early Jasper County pioneers once gathered for worship. Two years later, in 1859, Mathew Whitfield conveyed two acres of land on the Monticello–Madison road to local settlers for $20, and a new church and cemetery were built there. That sanctuary still stands today, more than 150 years later.
Read more...Shady Dale itself has deep roots. Long before English settlement, it was a Creek Indian village. By the early 1800s, it had become a small trading post and later grew into the only other incorporated city in Jasper County besides Monticello. Its location made it a natural crossroads: the old Seven Islands Road passed just to the north, carrying traders and travelers between Augusta and New Orleans. Later, railroads from Augusta to Milledgeville and on to Atlanta crossed through Shady Dale, making it an active shipping and tourist town.
On the eve of the Civil War, Shady Dale stood on the busy road between Covington and the state capitol at Milledgeville. The growing town was home to two of Georgia’s wealthiest men, Mathew Whitfield and J.W. Walton. Whitfield owned the Shady Dale Hotel, where General Sherman reportedly spent the night during his March to the Sea. Remarkably, the village itself survived the war relatively unscathed.
Railroads brought new prosperity in the late 19th century. By 1887, the Macon–Covington line cut through Shady Dale, intersecting with the earlier route and boosting trade. The town became a major shipping point for cotton, peaches, and farm machinery, though the boom was short-lived, collapsing with the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Today, Shady Dale is a proud reminder of East Georgia’s history, with its old homes and historic churches like Calvary Methodist. Services are still held each Sunday at 9:30 and 11:00, and visitors are always welcome.
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15 responses to “Calvary United Methodist”
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Hi, i bought the book and really enjoyed the information in it.
I’m trying to find a way to easily share these posts to help bring attention to this site.-
Hello William and thanks for purchasing our book! How are you hoping to share them? Via email or on social media?
If you’d like to email our posts, you can copy the page link at the top of any page. If you’d like to share on social media, you can follow our Facebook page where our posts can be shared to your friends. http://www.facebook.com/historicruralchurchesofgeorgia
If you have more questions, please email me here: kelly.gomez@hrcga.org
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Great community! I served this church and 5 others from 78-81 while at Emory….no better people anywhere. Personage was my wife and I first house.
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Calvary is part of the Shady Dale Circuit. We still have service on the first and third Sunday each month at 11:00 am. Pastor David Williams. We recently became Calvary Methodist Church. We welcome visitors.
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Thank you for your comment, Jana.
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I really enjoyed going there with my father when he was alive. A beautiful old church with the stained glass windows. I am seldom in Jasper County on Sundays any longer, but have fond memories of Calvary. I am aware that the church has disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church, something my home church hopes to do this year too.
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You mention there is a cemetery; is in indexed with Find-A-Grave? I am seeking a relative, Harmon Horlbeck Geiger, who may have been buried in that cemetery.
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Don’t beieve there is a cemetery associated with the church. However, there is a large community cemetery in Shady Dale that is available on Findagrave.
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Is this church still in existence? Where is it located? Is it the same church as Calvary United Methodist Church 8n Stlsnta?
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Yes, going strong in Shady Dale. The map was missing for some reason. Fixed now.
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Yes. This was my father’s church before he died in 2021. I went with him every time it met. Since it was part of a circuit, it met on 1st and 3rd Sundays. Recently several of its members have either died or moved away. When I went with my father, we had 15-20 in attendance until Covid.
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Hello my name is Melanie E Lowry I’m a Christian author and I came across your Chapel. My fiance and I have been looking for somewhere holy to get married we just didn’t want to go to the Justice of the Peace can we get married at your lovely Chapel?
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Melanie, we don’t have a contact number for the church but you can probably find it with an online search. Good luck.
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We served this church and 5 others while my husband was in seminary at Emory. We had two children while living In Shady Dale! LOVED this chUrch and the people in it! Have many precious memories about this church and this place!!!
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Four churches still remain on the Shady Dale circuit. Liberty closed, and Prospect went full time. Calvary and Godfrey meet on 1st and 3rd Sundays; New Hope and Hillsboro meet on 2nd and 4th Sundays.
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