Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a church community a mile east of Saline Bay and three miles west of Flint in extreme southwestern Smith County. The church and cemetery lie just north of Farm Road 346. In 1936 a local school employed two teachers for fifty-eight black students in grades one through seven, and the vicinity supported three churches. By 1952 the school had been consolidated with the Bullard Independent School District. Maps for 1973 show a large church, a cemetery, and a few scattered farms at the site of Bethlehem. The area was still sparsely settled in 1981. The Wheeler Rodeo Grounds were located to the west and Julia Drew Temple to the north.