Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Bethlehem, GA

Bethlehem is a small town in Barrow County in northeast Georgia, located off State Route 316 about four miles south of Winder, the county seat, and about 18 miles west of Athens.

The town was named after the Bethlehem Methodist Church, which was established in 1796; the present church, built in 1949, stands on the old Methodist camp ground site.

European settlers first arrived in the Bethlehem area in 1786, on land originally occupied by Cherokee and Creek peoples.

The community of Bethlehem was established in December 1883 as a stop along the Gainesville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad, and its post office opened in 1884.

Bethlehem was incorporated as a town in 1902 by an act of the Georgia General Assembly; at the time it was part of Walton County, but it became part of newly formed Barrow County in 1914.

The 2020 census counted 715 residents in Bethlehem, up from 601 in 2010, and the 2010 census recorded 247 housing units in the town, which covers about 2.33 square miles at an elevation of about 820 feet.

Bethlehem's motto is "The little town under the star," and it has a strong Christmas theme: many of its street names are references to the Nativity story, such as Mary, Joseph, and Manger — Bethlehem City Hall sits at 750 Manger Avenue.

Since the introduction of a 1967 postage stamp in Bethlehem, the town has become a popular place to send mail during the holidays; every Christmas season, visitors bring cards to the Bethlehem post office to be hand-stamped and mailed with the Bethlehem cancellation.

Harrison Poultry, Inc., located in Bethlehem, began in 1948 and grew from a hatching and broiler operation into a processing facility; it is the largest non-government employer in Barrow County, with more than 1,000 employees.