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The Belk Community, including the communities of Wright Bend and Allen Bend
New Union The Baptist Church in Belk (March, 1976)
Belk has long been a thriving little community with many families still connected to the area today. It has an active community association, which meets in the former Belk School, and is one of the outstanding communities in DeKalb County.
Belk School was established in the 1920’s by consolidating the Gum Spring School in Wright Bend with the Alexander School in Allen Bend. It had three teachers for several years, and the pupils rode school wagons before the availability of buses. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, a bus owned by Iredell Marsh brought paying pupils from Belk and Keltonburg to the High School in Smithville. In 1930, Belk had a high school with seven graduates.
The Belk School in the 1930's and thereafter took part in the county-wide elementary school basketball tournament, and often Belk teams were the champions. When Mr. Floice Vickers had winning teams from Walker's Chapel School, Mr. Ollie Denton was Belk's principal and basketball coach. They were intense rivals, and often their teams were the ones in the finals.
Belk had a Post Office from 1893 to 1908 named Belk after the maiden name of Mary Louise Wall, wife of Nathan Wall. Nathan Wall was the Postmaster and ran a store at the time. Belk still has a store, operated by Phillip Adcock and his wife.
Early settlers include John Fisher (a Revolutionary War veteran), Joseph Franks, Joseph Rankhorn, John Dunham, William Dunham, Elijah Hooten, Peter Bain, Isaac Adcock and Leonard Adcock. By 1850, Jacob Ray lived there as well.
Some of the early settlers attended Caney Fork Baptist Church in what is now Warren County. The Methodists had established a church by 1845, meeting in Bain’s Meeting House in Allen Bend. In 1888, the Corinth Church of Christ was organized.
The largest church in the Belk community is New Union The Baptist Church. New Union was organized about 1860, and when the deed to the present location was made in 1908, it was specified that on the four Sundays of the month it would be used by the Missionary Baptists, The Baptists, the Methodists and the Cumberland Presbyterians. The Missionary Baptists might use the building the first Sunday of the month, while The Baptist would use it on the second Sunday of the month, and so on. Eventually, three of these congregations died out, and the church became entirely The Baptist.
Belk School was established in the 1920’s by consolidating the Gum Spring School in Wright Bend with the Alexander School in Allen Bend. It had three teachers for several years, and the pupils rode school wagons before the availability of buses. In the 1930’s and 1940’s, a bus owned by Iredell Marsh brought paying pupils from Belk and Keltonburg to the High School in Smithville. In 1930, Belk had a high school with seven graduates.
The Belk School in the 1930's and thereafter took part in the county-wide elementary school basketball tournament, and often Belk teams were the champions. When Mr. Floice Vickers had winning teams from Walker's Chapel School, Mr. Ollie Denton was Belk's principal and basketball coach. They were intense rivals, and often their teams were the ones in the finals.
Belk had a Post Office from 1893 to 1908 named Belk after the maiden name of Mary Louise Wall, wife of Nathan Wall. Nathan Wall was the Postmaster and ran a store at the time. Belk still has a store, operated by Phillip Adcock and his wife.
Early settlers include John Fisher (a Revolutionary War veteran), Joseph Franks, Joseph Rankhorn, John Dunham, William Dunham, Elijah Hooten, Peter Bain, Isaac Adcock and Leonard Adcock. By 1850, Jacob Ray lived there as well.
Some of the early settlers attended Caney Fork Baptist Church in what is now Warren County. The Methodists had established a church by 1845, meeting in Bain’s Meeting House in Allen Bend. In 1888, the Corinth Church of Christ was organized.
The largest church in the Belk community is New Union The Baptist Church. New Union was organized about 1860, and when the deed to the present location was made in 1908, it was specified that on the four Sundays of the month it would be used by the Missionary Baptists, The Baptists, the Methodists and the Cumberland Presbyterians. The Missionary Baptists might use the building the first Sunday of the month, while The Baptist would use it on the second Sunday of the month, and so on. Eventually, three of these congregations died out, and the church became entirely The Baptist.