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Before the Canaan Cemetery came into being, the people of the community buried in a cemetery located on the Hensley farm across on the other side of Bear Creek. It is said that in the 1850's, one of Gipson Parks slaves had a child that died, and because of heavy rain and a swollen Bear Creek, the family could not get to the cemetery on the Hensley farm to bury the child. The child was instead buried in the woods, where the Canaan Cemetery is now located. (A small marker was erected in the 1940's to mark the child's grave.) The land for the cemetery was donated by the Parks families. In later years, Wright Horton donated land to expand the cemetery. The cemetery has been in use since the 1850's, and it is estimated the cemetery contains about 1800 graves.