The origins of the town of Bahama can be traced back to the construction of a log meetinghouse which was the first of several structures that would house what is now Mount Bethel United Methodist Church; the meetinghouse was likely built in the early 1780s. The settlement was subsequently known by various names, including Balltown, Round Hill, and Hunkadora. The latter two names specifically referred to the community centered on the post office founded by William Horner in 1832. In 1891 the town, then known as Hunkadora, was given the new name of Bahama, a portmanteau of the names of three families in the area: (Ba)ll, (Ha)rris, and (Ma)ngum. A new railroad station came to eclipse the post office as the center of activity.
