Trinity Church

City of Staunton, VA
Marker No. QC-1

Marker Text: Known originally as Augusta Parish Church, it was founded in 1746 as the County Parish. The Virginia General Assembly met here in June 1781 to avoid capture by British Raiders. The present church was erected in 1855 and was used by the Virginia Theological Seminary during the War Between the States. The first Bishop of Virginia, James Madison, was a member of this church.

Location: On 214 West Beverley Street in the City of Staunton in front of the church. Erected by the Virginia State Library in 1962.

  After the legislators quick escape from Charlottesville after the timely warning by Jack Jouett, they traveled over the Blue Ridge Mountains to the city of Staunton about 40 miles further west.  The Virginia legislature reconvened a few days later and met here between June 7-23, 1781 at Trinity Church in Staunton, making the first Augusta Parish Church (which was its name then) serve as the Virginia state capitol for sixteen days. A Windsor chair, used in that meeting is on display in the corner of St. Columba's Chapel within the current church building.

  The General Assembly of Virginia was deeply appreciative of the debt they owed as a legislature and personally to Jack Jouett, so on June 15, while meeting here at Trinity Church it adopted the following resolution:

  Resolved: That the executive be desired to present to Captain John Jouett an elegant sword and pair of pistols as a memorial of the high sense which the General Assembly entertain of his activity and enterprise in watching the motions of the enemy’s cavalry on their late incursion to Charlottesville and conveying to the assembly timely information of their approach, whereby the designs of the enemy were frustrated and many valuable stores preserved.

  Jouett was given the pistols in 1783, but it was twenty years before he received the “elegant sword.” By that time he had made quite a name for himself beyond the Alleghenies, in present-day Kentucky.

  Trinity Church, the oldest church in Staunton and known for its first eighty years as “Augusta Parish,” was founded in 1746, one year after Augusta County became an independent entity, and one year before the City of Staunton was established.

The Civil War/Confederate Cemetery

Greenbrier County, WV

Marker Text: (The Civil War) The Greenbrier area was predominately Southern in its sympathies, and furnished some 3000 men for the army of the Confederacy. It was occupied repeatedly by one or the other of the opposing armies throughout the War.

(Reverse side – Confederate Cemetery) On the hill, 400 yards west, in a common grave shaped like a cross, lie unclaimed bodies of ninety-five Confederate soldiers, casualties of the area, including those of the Battle of Droop Mountain and the Battle of Lewisburg.

Location: On U.S. Route 60 (westbound) off of W. Washington St. on Courtney Drive in New River Library Park, Lewisburg, WV, grouped with another marker called “Lewisburg.”  Erected by the West Virginia Historic Commission in 1963.

"The town was filled to overflowing with sick and dying men. Every public building in the place was converted to their service. The pews were taken up in the lecture room of the (Old Stone) church, and its aisles filled with double rows of cots. The Academy, the Masonic Hall, the hotels, offices, and private dwellings were filled to overflowing." - Rose W. Fry

  Confederate General Robert E. Lee, with Wise and Floyd, had been in the Kanawha Valley during 1861. Now in 1862, Federal troops forces held this region in what is now West Virginia, which as rich in salt, a prized commodity during the Civil War. In 1862 the South was anxious to regain the valley, and the North wanted to carry the war across the mountains into central Virginia. Lewisburg, WV was in the middle of these military goals.

Path to entry to cemetery from the parking lot. Two markers are in front of the fence.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  Early in June, 1861, Confederate General Henry A. Wise passed down the Kanawha Valley and General Floyd was also sent into this region. In September, 1861, Gen. Robert E. Lee with 10,000 men marched down from the northwest through Lewisburg and on to Sewell Mountain to encounter Gen. Rosecrans' force under Gen. Cox, who had command in the Valley. When winter set in, the Union troops withdrew and Gen. Lee's troops also departed. Many of Lee's wounded were nursed in Lewisburg.

  Though armies on both sides passed through Lewisburg throughout the Civil War, on May 23, 1862, the citizens of Lewisburg would not be spared the horrors of war on their doorsteps during and after the Battle of Lewisburg. Lewisburg citizens would pass on for generations stories of the day the battle was fought in the streets of the town.

Presbyterian Church

Boyle County, KY
Marker Number 754

Marker Text: One of three founded, 1784, by Reverend David Rice; earliest of this denomination west of Alleghenies. Here worshipped: James G. Birney, whose presidential candidacy in 1844 caused defeat of Henry Clay; John C. Breckinridge, whose 1860 candidacy resulted in election of Lincoln; Samuel D. Burchard, whose "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion" defeated James G. Blaine in 1884.

Location: At 500 W. Main Street, Danville, KY in front of the church also on U.S. Routes 127 and 150. Erected by the Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Department of Highways in 1964.

Marker along Main Street with the church on the right.  Click any photo to enlarge.

  I have not posted a marker for Sunday related to a church for a while. I thought this marker I photographed in Danville, Kentucky about the Presbyterian Church was a good one for today. Though not for the reason you might think. Of course, this Presbyterian Church is an historic church, but mostly because of its unusual text related to presidential elections. Three individuals who had worshipped in this church were significantly involved in the presidential elections of 1844, 1860 and 1884. With this being a presidential election year, I thought this marker made for an interesting addition.

Monument over Rev. Rice’s grave site next to the church, part of church seen in background.

  The Danville Presbyterian Church was organized around 1784 along with others in around Danville, KY by the Rev. David Rice who is buried near the church in the same grave yard as Dr. Ephraim McDowell.

  The Danville Presbyterian congregation moved to this location at the corner of Main and Fifth Streets in 1831. A more complete history of this church can be read at their web site, Danville Presbyterian Church. My attention today will be on the three other men mentioned on the marker related to presidential elections.

Earliest Church

Lincoln County, KY
Marker Number 1234

Marker Text: The Stanford Presbyterian Church, founded 1788 on this site, on Old Wilderness Trail. Land given by Mary Briggs, sister of Gen. Benjamin Logan. Church moved to its present site, 1838; land given by Logan, one of founders. In 1797, David Rice, father of Presbyterianism in Kentucky, preached here. The original log church now part of this library building.

Location: On Main St. in front of the Old Presbyterian Meeting House and Museum, Stanford, Kentucky (U.S. Routes 27 & 150). Erected by the Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky Department of Highways in 1969.

  I have not posted a marker about a church for a few months and today's marker is about a church I came across in Stanford, Kentucky last May. As you can see from the photos below this marker is next to a building as a part of the Lincoln County History Museum and within the walls of this building are the original log walls of what is probably Kentucky's oldest remaining church building. I was told that the Stanford Presbyterian congregation does conduct worship at this site about once a year to remind the congregation of its early roots in the community.

  The first recorded evidence of a congregation of Presbyterians in Stanford, Kentucky is from the minutes of Transylvania Presbytery meeting at Paint Lick in 1788. By order of the Presbytery, the Rev. McConnell was commissioned to preach two Sundays each month in the vicinity of the Stanford Courthouse for the congregation there.

Old Providence Church

Marker No. A-31
Augusta County, VA

Marker Text: Two and a half miles northwest. As early as 1748, a log meeting house stood there. In 1793 a stone church (still standing) was built. In 1859 it was succeeded by a brick church, which gave way to the present building in 1918. In the graveyard rest ancestors of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the reaper, and fourteen Revolutionary soldiers.

Location: On U.S. Route 11 (Lee Jackson Highway) at County Route 620 (Spottswood Road), 1.4 miles north of Steeles Tavern. The church is located west on Spottswood Road at intersection with Old Providence Road (VA Route 919) Erected by the Virginia Conservation Commission in 1939.

Photo taken looking south on Route 11.

  I have not posted about a church lately so today, I will cover one the remaining old church structures in Augusta County, VA. Historical Road Marker A-31 located on U.S. Route 11 between the villages of Greenville and Steeles Tavern tells briefly of the history of Old Providence Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. This marker among others in the valley points out the significance of Scots-Irish Presbyterians in the settlement of the Shenandoah Valley and their presence here for more than 250 years.

  As settlers into the Shenandoah Valley traveled south from Pennsylvania on the Great Wagon Road, German Lutherans and Scots-Irish Presbyterians were the main ethic groups to move into the valley in 1700's bringing their religion and cultural influences that still persist in the valley today.

Old Chapel

Marker No. T-2
Clarke County, VA

Marker Text: Lord Fairfax worshipped here in the “Old Chapel” of Colonial Frederick Parish, established 1788. This stone building dates from 1790 and witnessed the early ministry (1810-1885) of Bishop Meade. Governor Edmund Randolph and Col. Nathaniel Burwell lie in this burying ground with relatives friends, and neighbors.

Location: At the intersection of VA Route 255 (Bishop Meade Road) and U.S. Route 340 (Lord Fairfax Highway) on the south side of Bishop Meade Road in front of Old Chapel and cemetery. Erected by the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission in 1976.

  Whenever I am out and about taking photos of historical road markers, I always take special interest in the old churches and chapels I encounter. I have visited this chapel several times mainly because so many notable Virginians and their families buried in the graveyard or burying ground as it is sometimes called.

  Old Chapel is situated on the slope above the burying ground at the junction of Routes 340 and 255. The graveyard, has many examples of some excellent ante-bellum gravestone art and craftsmanship. The graveyard is enclosed by a low random rubble stone wall and is shaded by numerous trees.

Old Stone Church at Greenspring

Frederick County, VA

Marker No. A-67

Marker Text:  One-half mile west at Greenspring stands the Old Stone Church, the second church building on the site, which was built in 1838 for a Lutheran congregation. The first church had been built as a subscription school and as a house of worship. Old Stone Church and its large cemetery both had been long abandoned when, in 1927, Cora Bell Crim led local residents in restoring them and forming the Old Stone Church Memorial Association. The earliest extant Lutheran church in Frederick County, Old Stone Church is a rare example of the simple stone churches once common in the northern Shenandoah Valley.

The church is located down the road which is across the road from the marker to the right of this photo.  Photo taken looking east on Route 671 (Green Spring Rd.)

Location:  Near Green Spring, Virginia northwest of Winchester at the intersection of County Route 671 (Green Spring Road) and County Route 676 (Warm Spring Road), on the north side of the road across from road to church.  Erected by the Department of Historic Resources in 1998.

  Located in the rolling farmland of northern Frederick County, the Old Stone Church has changed little since its beginning. To get the church you leave the main road and travel on a winding lane through farmland to the church through open fields of pasture in all directions.

Westover Church

Charles City County, VA

Marker No. V-14

Marker Text:  A short distance south is Westover Church. It was first built on the James River near Westover House early in the seventeenth century. About 1730 the site was changed and the present building erected. Defaced in the Campaign of 1862, the church was reopened for worship in 1867.

Location: On Virginia Route 5 (John Tyler Memorial Highway), 6.5 miles west of Charles City in front of entrance to the church. Erected by the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission in 1968.

  Since it is Holy Week in the Christian faith, I thought it was a good time for another church related marker. Virginia has a variety of markers related to Colonial churches and later 1800's churches. The Westover Church is one of the oldest Colonial period church buildings originally established when the Church of England was the recognized church in pre-revolutionary America, later to become the Episcopal Church. This is the third similar church in Virginia I have included, the others being St. John's Church in King William County and Little Fork Church in Culpeper County.

Mitchells Presbyterian Church

Culpeper County, VA

Marker No. F-25

Marker Text: This Gothic Revival church, built in 1879, contains an elaborate example of trompe-l'oeil fresco painting done in 1888. Joseph Dominick Phillip Oddenino, an Italian immigrant artist, painted to deceive the eye into believing that his plaster murals of Gothic arches, Renaissance-styled cornices, and embellished Corinthian columns were three dimensional. Oddenino decorated the ceilings at Mitchells Church and Hebron Lutheran Church in Madison with geometric designs.

Location: About two miles, south of U.S. Route 522 (Zachary Taylor Highway), 0.28 miles east of (State Route 615) Rapidan Road on Mitchell Road in east of the church.  Another marker by the same name with number F-25a is located on U.S. Route 522 south of Culpeper about 2 miles north of the church.  Erected by the Department of Conservation and Historic Resources in 1985.

  Time for another marker about a church building. Being a pastor I like historical markers related to churches, particularly Presbyterian ones. The Mitchells Presbyterian Church was built in 1879. What sets this church apart as an historical site, on two similar markers, relates to its style as a Carpenter (or Rural) Gothic church, which was a typical style for country structures during this period in the mid-19^th century and due to the trompe-l'oeil fresco painting done in 1888 by Joseph Dominick Phillip Oddenino.

Little Fork Church

Culpeper County, VA

Marker No. G-9

Marker Text: One-half mile east stands Little Fork Episcopal Church, begun 1753, destroyed by fire in 1773. Present structure completed in 1776.

Location: On Route 229, 6 miles south of Route 211, southwest of Warrenton, VA, same side of road near intersection with Route 726 (Little Fork Church Road) and opposite intersection with State Route 611 (Waterford Road). Erected by the Virginia Historic Landmarks Commission in 1967. The church itself is located about 0.4 miles east on Little Fork Church Road.

  Sunday morning, so it is time for another church, an Episcopal church in Virginia. Little Fork Church is the only Colonial church in Culpeper County, VA and one of the few colonial churches to survive in northern Piedmont Virginia, however, it was never a parish church. Created in 1731 as a "chapel of ease" for the St. Mark's Parish within the Little Fork between the Rappahannock and Hazel Rivers by order of Governor Spotswood.

Providence Church

Louisa County, VA

Marker No. V-19

Marker Text: Half a mile northeast stands Providence Presbyterian church, built probably in 1749 and little altered since. John Todd, Senior, a founder of Hampden-Sydney College, was pastor for forty years (1753-1793). Hanover Presbytery met there in October, 1762.

Location: On Broad Street, Route 250, 0.4 miles northwest of Gum Spring, VA and the intersection with VA Route 522, on the right when traveling west. Marker is about 0.3 miles from the church which located at 3388 Three Chopt Road. Erected by the Virginia Conservation Commission in 1947.

  My last post concerned a Lutheran log church in Pennsylvania, so today I thought I would post a Presbyterian church in Virginia, which is a rare example of a 18^th century wood frame church. This simple structure stands amid oak and pine, much as it did 250 years ago when Indians roamed the Virginia forests and a group of Presbyterians met to read and study the Bible.

Old Log Church

Bedford County, PA

Marker Text: On land granted by John Schell for the purpose of erecting a union church, construction of this primitive log church building was begun in 1806 by the Reformed and Lutheran Congregations of this area.

Location: On the Lincoln Highway (U.S. Route 30), near Cemetery Road, just West of Schellsburg, PA. Erected by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in 1974.

  I have taken many photos of old churches and their related historical markers. Many of the surviving church buildings were constructed in flemish bond brick or other brick structures and only a few were wooden frame. In looking at the history of many churches, you discover that they frequently began as log churches and most were replaced by brick structures over time. A few of these original log churches do exist, such as this one outside of Schellsburg, PA, which celebrated their 200^th anniversary in 2006.

St. John's Church

King William County, VA

Marker No. OC-18

Marker Text: This was the parish church of St. John's Parish, formed in 1680. It was built in 1734. Earlier churches stood at West Point and about one mile north of this site. Carter Braxton, Revolutionary Statesman, was a vestryman. Preserved by joint effort.

Location: On Virginia Route 30 (King William Road), 103 St. John's Church Lane, King William, VA, south of the King William Courthouse, 8.9 miles northwest of West Point, marker is in front of entrance to the church. Erected by the Virginia State Library in 1965.

  I find all the markers I come across interesting, but among some of my favorite are the markers related to churches. Particularly in Virginia, many of these churches date back to the Colonial period. I enjoy these markers, because the church building itself is often still standing, sharing with us a moment in history of our country. Among these many markers is one in King William County, VA, St. John's Church in the St. John’s Parish formed in 1680. In 1734 there were two original churches with one about a mile from this location and one located in the present Town of West Point. In that same year the two churches were consolidated in a new brick building, the subject of this marker.