Dixie Lee Baptist Church was first
called Midway Baptist to denote it being located
halfway between Knoxville and Kingston. On June
2, 1954 the name of the church was changed to Dixie
Lee Baptist Church. Most records of the early church
have been destroyed except for some information
contained in an old letter to Deacon Hugh Watt from
a Mr. Hartley, who helped build Midway. Mr. Hartley
stated in his letter, "A child was born in
our home in 1876 and there was no building. Another
child was born in 1878 and there was a building."
The assumed date of the original construction was
1877 based on this information. The church was constituted
as Midway Baptist Church in 1882.
Land for the first building was donated by John
Marshal Montgomery. Mr. Montgomery, George Hand,
and Mr. Hartley were part of the construction
crew who built the original building. All framing
used in the first building was hewn logs held
together by wooden pegs or "draw" pins.
On
June 25, 1947 the church voted to begin a new
building. A new section consisting of two floors
of Sunday School classrooms and a furnace room
were completed. Before this unit was paid for,
the old hewn log building had to be abandoned
because of its deteriorated condition (1948).
Beginning in November 1949 a basement was built
that would someday be the foundation for a new
sanctuary. Meetings were held in the basement
for six years. In 1954 the sanctuary was completed.
In 1948 Sunday School attendance peaked at 200
and attendance at Vacation Bible School for that
year was 100. In April 1958 the average attendance
in Sunday School was 216.
A cove on Fort Loudon Lake was used for baptismal
services. Elwood Armstrong's closed produce truck
substituted as a dressing room.
Construction began in 1953 on the main sanctuary
and the third floor to the education building.
The church borrowed $20,000 at 4% interest to
finance the payment of the building.
In August 1996 the church dedicated the family
life center which provides Sunday School classrooms,
staff offices, kitchen, fellowship, and gymnasium
facilities.
More church history and highlights
from our 118th Homecoming Celebration can be found
on our Homecoming page.
