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.

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.