Old Stone Church (Lewisburg, West Virginia)

Old Stone Church is a historic Presbyterian church located at Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, West Virginia.

Old Stone Church
Old Stone Church, November 1974
Old Stone Church (Lewisburg, West Virginia) is located in West Virginia
Old Stone Church (Lewisburg, West Virginia)
Old Stone Church (Lewisburg, West Virginia) is located in the United States
Old Stone Church (Lewisburg, West Virginia)
Location644 Church St.,
Lewisburg, West Virginia
Coordinates37°48′06″N 80°26′54″W / 37.8016°N 80.4483°W / 37.8016; -80.4483
Area2 acres (0.81 ha)
Built1796
Architectural styleOld Virginia
NRHP reference No.72001286[1]
Added to NRHPFebruary 23, 1972

History

edit

The congregation formed in 1783 practicing in a log building until building two-story, rectangular limestone building in 1796.[2] An addition was built in 1830, making the building 75 feet by 44 feet in size. It features an open cupola belfry. One of its earliest and most well-known reverends was John McElhenney who served the church for over sixty years starting in 1808.[3] During the American Civil War, it served as a hospital for both Union and Confederate forces.[4] The pews of the church were removed so that more cots for soldiers could be brought in.[5] After the Union victory at the Battle of Lewisburg, a trench was built by the side of the church to bury the Confederate dead.[6] After the war, the soldiers were reburied at the Confederate Cemetery at Lewisburg.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. The related Stone Manse was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.[1]

Burials

edit

Henry M. Mathews, Governor of West Virginia

List of burials at Find A Grave

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ "History". Old Stone Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 2021-11-14.
  3. ^ Fry, Rose W. (1893). Recollections of the Rev. John McElhenney, D.D. p. 222. OCLC 959554851.
  4. ^ C. Doyle Kester (June 1970). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory Nomination Form: Old Stone Church" (PDF). State of West Virginia, West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  5. ^ Fry, Rose W. (1893). Recollections of the Rev. John McElhenney, D.D. p. 179. OCLC 959554851.
  6. ^ Fry, Rose W. (1893). Recollections of the Rev. John McElhenney, D.D. p. 180. OCLC 959554851.
edit

  Media related to Old Stone Church (Lewisburg, West Virginia) at Wikimedia Commons