Reverend Dennis O’Driscoll began holding services in a brush arbor on the Ellaville-Americus Road in 1860 and that fledgling congregation built this classical structure on land given by the C. B. Strange family in 1871. It is unclear whether the church was named for the Apostle Andrew or for Bishop James O. Andrew, the first Georgian to be elected a bishop.
Original trustees were F. J. Greene, G. H. Walker, J. H. S. Baisden, O. A. Crittenden and C. B. Strange. Reverend John Marshall served as pastor from 1872-1873.
A Sunday School wing was added to the original chapel in 1948.
I was a member of Andrew Chapel @ 1974-1985. The sign out in front used to say it was founded in 1850. Are you sure about the 1871 date? I have one of the original pews from the church made of slabs of pine 15″ wide. We got new ones around 1979.
Behind the sanctuary, there is a bathroom, pastor’s office, 2 small Sunday School rooms and a middle area. This may be the “wing” that was added in 1948, but it’s pretty small. The fellowship hall was a disused Methodist church from another county that we moved there in 1980, and built a 2-story hall/wing connecting the rooms at the back of the sanctuary to the fellowship hall. This part has 2 nursery rooms, bathrooms, a kitchen, and 3 upstairs Sunday school rooms.
Wade ten Bensel