Cychwynodd Capel Bedyddwyr Bethania, Maesteg gyda dyfodiad y Parchedig Thomas Hopkin o Hirwaun ym 1828 i wasanaethu'r cymuned cynyddol o fedyddwyr o gylch gweithiau haearn Cwm Llynfi. Bu Hopkin yn weinidog tan 1845 yn goruwchwilio adeiladu'r capel cyntaf ym 1832 gan Hurley o Faesteg a'i ehangu ym 1840. Gorfodwyd i'w olynydd, y Parchedig H W Hughes, arwain teithiau pregethu er mwyn ateb y ddyledion a ddaeth o ganlyniad i'r waith yma. Cynyddodd aelodaeth y capel yn gyflym o dan Hughes a'i olynydd y Parchedig Richard Hughes, a fedyddiwyd gan Hopkin. Roedd weithgareddau amrywlio y capel yn cynnwys pregethau - llawer wedi eu cyhoeddu fel Pwlpud Bethania - cyrddau pregethu, a pherfformiadau ddramatig a chorawl. Claddwyd Richard Hughes ym mynwent y capel ym 1885. Ni lwyddod atgyweiriadau i'r adeilad ddygymod a'r holl aelodau a bu'r Parchedig Edward Jones, a adnabyddir fel Iorwerth Ddu (1852-1931) ac a ddaeth o Droed-y-rhiw ym 1894, yn hanfodol yn sicrhau adeiladu capel newydd a ddyluniwyd gan Syr William Beddoe Rees - arbenigwr mwen pensaerniaeth capeli - ym 1908. Bu Rees yn gysylltiedig ac adeiladu o leiaf 14 capel - pedwar ohonynt ym Maesteg. Dan Edward Jones, parhoadd Bethania i dyfu ac yn ystod Diwygiad 1904-5 bedyddiwyd 158 o aelodau newydd yn y capel. Daeth Jones yn Lywydd ar Undeb y Bedyddwyr ym 1925 a drefnodd cyfarfod o weinidogion y Bedyddwyr ac eraill ym Methania y flwyddyn yna. Fe'i coffawyd ar goflech yn y capel. Cwympodd nifer yr aelodau yn sydyn wedi ei weinidogaeth ef a daeth y capel i drafferthion ariannol a pherodd iddi gau yn 2004. Yn 2005 daeth Bethania i ofal Ymddiriedolaeth Addoldai Cymru. Mae'r adeilad wedi ei restri ar Raddfa II.
Bethania Welsh Baptist Chapel originated in the arrival of the Reverend Thomas Hopkin from Hirwaun in 1828 to serve the growing Baptist community around the ironworks in the Llynfi valley. Hopkin was minister till 1845 overseeing the building of the first chapel in 1832 by Hurley of Maesteg and its enlargement in 1840. His successor, the Reverend HW Hughes was forced to conduct preaching tours to help settled the debts incurre.d Chapel membership expanded rapidly under Hughes and his successor the Reverend Richard Hughes who had been baptised by Hopkin. The chapel activities extended from sermons - many published as Pwlpud Bethania ('Bethania's pulpit') - to preaching festivals and dramatic and choral performances. Richard Hughes was buried in the chapel's own burial ground in 1885. Building renovation failed to accommodate all members and the Reverend Edward Jones, known as 'Iorwerth Ddu' (1852-1931), who had arrived from Troed-y-rhiw in 1894, was instrumental in securing the construction of a new chapel designed by Sir William Beddoe Rees - who specialised in chapel architecture - in 1908. Rees was involved in the construction of at least fourteen chapels - four of them in Maesteg. Under Edward Jones, Bethania continued to grow and during the religious revival of 1904-5, 158 new members were baptised at the chapel. Jones became president of the Baptist Union in 1925 and secured a notable gathering of Baptist ministers and others at Bethania that year. He is commemorated by a memorial tablet at the chapel. Membership declined sharply after his ministry and the chapel fell into financial difficulties leading to its closure in 2004. In 2005 Bethania passed into the care of the Welsh Religious Buildings Trust. The chapel is a Grade II listed building.
