When several Baptist families in the area constructed a log church and cemetery there, Petherton was founded in 1860.

Known as the South Arthur Baptist Church and the Petherton Pioneer Cemetery, they were built on land donated by the Spark family.

[5][6] A post office was established in 1869, and by the 1870s Petherton was a thriving agricultural centre, with two stores, two carriage makers, two hotels, two blacksmith shops, a carpenter, a chopping mill, a kiln for making bricks, and several houses.

[5] The Toronto, Grey and Bruce Railway established a line through Petherton in 1872, and a station was erected there.

[7] The cemetery fell into neglect, and was restored in 1977 by descendants of the pioneers buried there.