Harmony Baptist Church, Elgin, will celebrate its 175th anniversary Oct. 19.

The name of the church first appeared in the minutes of Bethal Baptist Association in 1839. In 1863, the church was a founding member of Fairfield Baptist Association (which later became Columbia Metro Baptist Association).

Through the years, the church was moved to its present location (which was no small task, as members moved the wood-frame church on logs pulled by mules). Harmony had its first full-time pastor in the 1970s, bricked the frame building, added classrooms and fellowship space, and built a new sanctuary in 1984 and a new fellowship hall in 1999.

Jeff Cockrell, son of the late Fred L. “Von” Cockrell, who was pastor of Harmony in the early 1950s, will bring the message for the anniversary service. Cockrell is chaplain at Bethea Baptist Retirement Community. His grandfather, the late John Ackerson, held revivals at Harmony and other community churches. Dan Griffin is pastor at Harmony.