After Ben Johnson and his wife, "Miss Ellie," were caught in a rainstorm while traveling six miles to the DuBose Methodist Church, Ben Johnson and Dick Mock rode for several days seeking land for a church nearer home. Because much of the area's land was mortgaged after the Civil War, Elias Harper deeded four acres to church trustees Ben Johnson, Sam Roe Johnson, and John King for a church and cemetery. "Miss Ellie" named the church Centerville because it stood in the middle of the community. The Centerville Methodist Church was organized in 1891, and community members erected its first building eight miles south of Blakely on the Three Notch Road. The church was a pine log structure with posts in the middle for support, two single entrance doors, whole pine log floor joists and ceiling trusses that still remain in place, and a wood stove in the center to warm the congregation. It was dedicated on August 7, 1898, with Rev. C.C. Lowe as its first pastor, and in 1976 a social hall was added and synthetic siding installed.