Caney Head Methodist (Heard County, Ga.)

There is no record of the exact date that Caney Head Methodist Church was constituted but we know that the congregation was constituted at least by 1833 and may have existed earlier. A newspaper article asserts that Caney Head was organized in 1826 when this part of Heard County was still Carroll County. In either case, the church maintains that it is the oldest Methodist Church west of the Chattahoochee River in Heard County. The written records of the church can be found only back to 1882 but a record from Mrs. Harriet Lancaster (made in the 1940s) said she could remember that: "she joined the church at Caney Head in 1864 and at the same time, 73 people joined the church in a great revival under Pastor David Striplin. She remembered that the church was already old by then." Since Franklin Methodist Church is the oldest in the county, constituted in 1832, it is quite possible that the new Franklin Church helped organize Caney Head the following year in 1833. The current church building is the fourth one that has been used for church services. The first building was built about one-mile southwest of the present location and was erected on the edge of a cane break near a small stream, which gave the church its name. When the location was changed to the present site, a log church was built and served for many years but was replaced by a frame building. That frame church served until the present church building was constructed in 1897. James Yates was the head carpenter and some of the lumber was hauled in from Bowdon, Georgia, 10 miles away. After the new church was completed, records show that W.B. Walls made a deed for this property to the trustees of the church in 1899. In addition to the church building, there was a school building on the grounds which was built in 1925, called Unity School. Classes were taught by some well-renowned teachers such as W.H. Settles, who was known as "a true type of the old-fashioned schoolmaster." It was the only school in the whole community and was attended by all children from the county around until it burned in 1937. The church continued through the 1900s but by the middle of the century, updates were needed for the building and so church members came up with a creative solution. The congregation wanted to add some new facilities and ensure the upkeep of the church so in 1931, they decided to host a barbecue. They invited anyone from the community to come and for more than 40 years, attendees would show up on a Saturday in September to enjoy a feast on the church grounds. Different church members assumed the role of barbecue master over the years and one of them even developed a barbecue sauce recipe so secret that he wouldn't even reveal the recipe to the minister. The women of the church would showcase their skills by baking all sorts of desserts and cakes for the event. These efforts helped usher the church through a struggling period and enabled the church to flourish to this day. The cemetery at Caney Head holds more than 200 burials.