In 1830, several Scots-Irish families from Counties Down and Antrim, Ireland, settled in the White Oak community after first living in Abbeville, Newberry, and Laurens Districts of South Carolina. These Psalm-singing Presbyterians initially worshiped at the Newnan Presbyterian Church, but the distance made regular attendance difficult. Seeking a closer place of worship, they founded White Oak Presbyterian Church in 1836 as part of the Associated Reform Presbyterian Synod. Tradition holds that the church was organized under the shed of the old Bowers’ cotton gin. Founding families included Young, Bowers, Walthall, Leslie, Stewart, Hunter, Tolbert, Bryson, Chalmers, Russell, Johnson, and Carmichael.

That same year, the congregation purchased a log church named Smyrna from the Methodists. On October 21, 1837, after a morning sermon, members formally adopted the Westminster Confession of Faith, pledged to its doctrines, and were constituted as White Oak Presbyterian Church. Robert Russell and James Thompson were installed as ruling elders, and Rev. Joseph Young Alexander, appointed by the Flint River Presbytery, served as pastor for several years. The church hosted the first meeting of the Presbytery of Georgia in 1843. The present sanctuary was built in 1896.

In 1879, Rev. John Hemphill became pastor. Born in South Carolina, he graduated from Erskine College, was licensed by the South Carolina Presbytery in 1861, and enlisted at the start of the Civil War. Captured and imprisoned in Elmira, New York, for nineteen months, he returned in poor health but continued to serve congregations until his call to White Oak, where he remained until his death in 1899. A memorial plaque in the church honors his service. The cemetery, with 523 documented interments, contains many Civil War veterans, including Rev. Hemphill. His successor, Rev. Ira Sylvester Caldwell, was serving when his son, novelist Erskine Caldwell, was born in 1903. For nearly 125 years, the congregation has lovingly maintained the church, preserving its historic character while making necessary improvements. The interior remains a visual treasure, a testament to the care and stewardship of this enduring part of Georgia’s history.