Kentucky Baptist Historical Society Newsletter
Bullitsburg Baptist Church, Boone County, KY
Unique Outdoor Baptistry
[Recent picture furnished by Steve Conrad.]The photograph is of the outdoor baptismal pool at Bullitsburg Baptist Church, Boone County, Kentucky. This unique baptistry is possibly one of only two such baptistries in the world.
It was constructed in 1873 by Mr. William Batterson, an Irish stone mason. The pool is located approximately one hundred feet north of the second sanctuary which was built in 1819. The pool is built of dressed blue lime-stone and is shaped like a large key hole. (Mr. Batterson referred to it as a big Jews' harp!) It is approximately twenty feet long, twelve feet wide at the widest point, and six feet wide at the narrowest point, where there are nine steps descending to the stone bottom. The pool is plastered on the inside and bottom.
The water supply was furnished by a spring which flowed through the baptistry. During construction for I-275 which runs immediately in front of the church, this supply was cut off and it is now necessary to fill the pool from a water truck.
James A. Kirtley was pastor of the Bullitsburg Church when the pool was constructed. It is likely that he was the first pastor to baptize in it. The pool was last used a little more than a year ago.
The Bullitsburg Church was one of John Taylor's "Ten Churches," and continues to remain a strong congregation. The church has recently finished a building program and has a beautiful white brick building which blends with the older buildings.
(This information was furnished by Mr. W. B. Campbell, who was baptized in the pool in 1915 by his father, J. W. Campbell, who was pastor of the church from 1913-1938. Mr. Campbell states that "the facts are authoritative, having been received by me many years ago, from one who was a life-long member of Bullitsburg in the prime of life at the time the pool was built.")
================ [Kentucky Baptist Historical Society Newsletters, Volume 3, #2, 1975, p. 19; provided by Adam Winters, Archivist @ Southern Baptist Seminary Library. Scanned and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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