Bethany, anchored by Bethany Baptist Church, appears on maps after 1915. Before then, a church congregation had been established at nearby Alliston’s Grove, but tradition holds that it disbanded after the Civil War. In 1869, two acres of land from the Baldwin Estate were given to the Bethany Baptist Church trustees, some of whom had previously belonged to Alliston’s Grove. The land deed indicates that a school had already been established there, and in 1915 an educational survey of Morgan County identified the Bethany school as highly improved and beautified, with drives and walks, flowers and vines, a pavilion and play houses, playgrounds, tennis, and a may pole. Unlike many rural communities, Bethany did not develop on a railroad line but stood on a main thoroughfare between Madison and Eatonton in Shepherd's Militia District. Post office records from 1900 indicate that the community comprised about 500 individuals. In 1897, at least five cotton gins existed in Shepherd's District, and a number of large dairies were established there as the dairy industry began to thrive in Morgan County. The small community of Zachry, also in Shepherd's District, lay eight miles south of Bethany and included houses, a cotton gin, and a general store. Bethany is recognized as a significant part of Morgan County history.