Near Lake City in Williamsburg County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)
Cooper's Academy
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Bethesda Methodist Church
Photographed by Cindy Bullard, February 18, 2010
1. Cooper's Academy / Bethesda Methodist Marker (front)
Cooper's Academy. Coopers Academy, built in 1905-06, was a private boarding school for the black children of this community until 1927, and a public school 1927-1958. Founded by Moses Cooper, H.J. Cooper, and Ada E. Martin, it was first called Coopers Academy, Normal and Industrial Institute for Colored Youth. The school closed in 1958 when black schools at Battery Park and Cades were consolidated.
Bethesda Methodist Church. Bethesda Methodist Church, founded in 1879, was organized in a brush arbor. Its first permanent church, a one-room sanctuary built about 1884, stood 1/4 mi. W. The congregation bought a two-acre site here in 1893, and soon built a one-room frame church. The church was rebuilt in 1971, during the pastorate of Rev. J.B. Bowen.
Erected 2009 by South Carolina Department of Archives and History; sponsored by Cooper Academy and Bethesda Methodist Church History Committee. (Marker Number 45-15.)
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans • Education • Religion & Religious Structures. A significant historical year for this entry is 1927.
Location. 33° 45.72′ N, 79° 40.379′ W. Marker is near Lake City, South Carolina, in Williamsburg County. It is on
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in South Carolina’s Pee Dee. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Deep South. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 10 other markers are within 9 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Browntown (approx. 5.3 miles away); Mt. Seal Methodist Church (approx. 6.3 miles away); Indiantown Presbyterian Church: Disarm in the Most Rigid Manner (approx. 6.9 miles away); Indiantown Presbyterian Church (approx. 6.9 miles away); Graham Home Place (approx. 8.3 miles away); The Lynching of Frazier Baker (approx. 8.6 miles away); Ronald E. McNair (approx. 8.8 miles away); Whitehead Infirmary (approx. 8.8 miles away); Dr. Ronald E. McNair Memorial Park (approx. 8.8 miles away); Lake City Tobacco Markets / Imperial Tobacco Company (approx. 8.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Lake City.
Photographed by Cindy Bullard, February 18, 2010
2. Cooper's Academy / Bethesda Methodist Marker (reverse)
Photographed by Cindy Bullard, February 18, 2010
3. Cooper's Academy
Photographed by Cindy Bullard, February 18, 2010
4. Cooper's Academy
Photographed by Cindy Bullard, February 18, 2010
5. Bethesda Methodist Church
Credits. This page was last revised on May 25, 2026. It was originally submitted on February 24, 2010, by David Bullard of Seneca, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 2,064 times since then and 45 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on February 24, 2010, by David Bullard of Seneca, South Carolina. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.
