Let's take a look at one our area's oldest churches: Shoal Creek Baptist Church. This comes from the church Web site which is www.shoalcreekchurch.net:

The exact events surrounding the beginning of the Shoal Creek Baptist Church are unclear. Like most of their contemporaries elsewhere, the pioneering people who ventured into new territory in Alabama to homestead and make a life were more focused on their urgent needs rather than leaving a detailed record for posterity. They knew that if they weren't successful there would be no posterity. Among their needs were those of worship and community; met by creating the Shoal Creek Church.

In their midst, and near a fine source of spring water, they built a log church that still stands, one of a few that remain in the southeast region of the U.S. — or anywhere. The present church building is apparently the third to have been built at the site.

In the early 1900's families began to leave the mountainous area and move into more accessible (and less unprofitable) areas of Cleburne and Calhoun counties. Large timber companies were willing to buy the lands, and the populace could live better elsewhere. The largest of these buyers were the Burt Timber Company and the Alabama Mineral Lands Company. The federal government later bought large parcels of land from these companies and in 1936, President Roosevelt, by proclamation, created the Talladega National Forest. This encompassed the entire region of the former Shoal Creek community and church.

There is no record of the formal end of the church fellowship. The church declined due to membership relocation and by 1914 apparently so many had left, that the church no longer met regularly. The last entry in the existing minutes is dated September 6, 1914.

Note: Much of the information in this article was taken from a historical sketch written by William Lee Jones. Portions were drawn from other sources and the whole was written by Lee Randall Jones of Roanoke, Va., the originator and custodian of this site.