Settlers in the 1860s called this area Dry Creek, but in 1876 they renamed it Bethesda Community after building a schoolhouse used for Methodist worship. In 1877, John G. Leach and John Marshall Coalson gave land near the school for a cemetery when Leach's daughter Minnie E. seemed near death with diphtheria, although she recovered. The earliest marked grave is that of Charlie A. Walker, and many graves in the older part of the cemetery reflect childhood mortality. In 1973, descendants of pioneer families donated land to enlarge the site to five acres.