New Summerfield, Cherokee County
The small rural community of Emmaus was settled in the 1860s. By the 1870s the Emmaus Baptist Church was organized. School classes were held in the church building until 1881, when Dr. J. M. Brittain donated two acres of land for a public school. At its height, the community consisted of farms, two general stores, two churches, a school, and a cotton gin. One of the few physical reminders of the settlement, the Emmaus Cemetery dates to 1886. The area became known as New Emmaus in 1953 with the construction of the New Emmaus Baptist Church.