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Old Pine Church
Old Pine Church, viewed from the west, facing the church's front elevation.
Old Pine Church is located in West Virginia
Old Pine Church
LocationOld Pine Church Road
(West Virginia Secondary Route 220/15)
Purgitsville, West Virginia, United States
Area2.3 acres (0.93 ha)
Built1838
Architectural styleFront gable
NRHP reference No.12001049[1]
Designated December 12, 2012[1]

Old Pine Church (also historically known as Mill Church, Nicholas Church, and Pine Church) is a mid-19th century church near the unincorporated community of Purgitsville in the U.S. state of West Virginia. Old Pine Church is among the earliest extant churches in Hampshire County, along with Capon Chapel and Mount Bethel Church.

The church was constructed in 1838 to serve as a nondenominational "union church." As many of the Mill Creek valley's earliest settlers were of German descent, Old Pine Church may have also been built as a meeting place for Schwarzenau Brethren adherents, known as "Dunkers" or "Dunkards." The church is believed to have been utilized by German Methodist settlers. By 1870, Old Pine Church was primarily used exclusively by the Brethren denomination, and in 1878, the church's congregation split into White Pine Church of the Brethren and Old Pine Church congregations. Both congregations continued to use Old Pine Church until 1907.

The church reportedly housed a school in the early 20th century, while still serving as a center for worship. In 1968, residents of the Purgittsville community raised the necessary funds to conduct a restoration of Old Pine Church. The church and its adjoining cemetery were added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 2012, due to its "significant settlement-era rural religious architecture in the Potomac Highlands."

Old Pine Church is a large, one-story, front gable log building sheathed in brown-painted wooden German siding. The original hewn log beams are visible beneath the church, with some bark remaining on the logs. The church's interior ceiling measures approximately 15 feet (4.6 m) in height and is clad in pressed metal panels. Several of its pews date from 1857. In the church's adjoining cemetery, the earliest extant gravestone dates from 1834, and several unmarked interment sites may exist from as early as 1759. According to architectural historian Sandra Scaffidi, "Old Pine Church and cemetery is an excellent example of one of the area’s early rural church complexes."

Location

Mill Creek viewed from Trinity Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 220/11) near Junction, approximately 7.4 miles (11.9 km) northeast of Old Pine Church.

Old Pine Church and its cemetery are located along the steeply-sloped Old Pine Church Road (West Virginia Secondary Route 220/15), approximately 1.66 miles (2.67 km) south of the unincorporated community of Purgitsville.[2][3][4] The church and cemetery are situated on 2.3 acres (0.93 ha) atop a bluff to the west of U.S. Route 220, [5] at an elevation of 1,129 feet (344 m).[6] The property is surrounded by old-growth forests.[7]

Old Pine Church is located in a rural area of southwestern Hampshire County within the Mill Creek valley.[3][7] Patterson Creek Mountain, a forested narrow anticlinal mountain ridge rises to the west of Mill Creek valley, and the forested western rolling foothills of the anticlinal Mill Creek Mountain rise to the valley's east.[3] The Trough on the South Branch Potomac River is located across Mill Creek Mountain, approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) to the east of Old Pine Church.[3]

History

Background

The land upon which Old Pine Church is located was originally part of the Northern Neck Proprietary, a land grant awarded by Charles II of England to seven of his supporters in 1649, and again in 1688 by official patent.[8] One of these seven supporters, Thomas Colepeper, 2nd Baron Colepeper, acquired the right to the entire proprietary in 1681;[8] his grandson, Thomas Fairfax, 6th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, inherited it in 1719.[8][9]

The church is located in the Mill Creek valley. The valley was one of the first parts of present-day Hampshire County to be settled by whites, beginning in the mid-18th century.[10] Settlers were drawn by the valley's fertility, despite frequent attacks by Native Americans.[11] As the valley's population grew, the unincorporated community of Purgitsville developed along Mill Creek as a trading post village;[11][12] it was named for Henry Purgitt (or Purgate), who acquired 400 acres (160 ha) in the Mill Creek valley on January 7, 1785 and received an additional land transfer of 137 acres (55 ha) in 1794.[10] Purgitsville continued to develop throughout the course of the 19th century, during which time it grew to include a small store, a post office, and a blacksmith shop.[11]

Establishment

A church building may have been constructed at the site of Old Pine Church as early as around 1814, and possibly as early as 1792.[11][13] However, the dates of the earliest church cannot be verified.[11][13]

On September 24, 1838, William Pomkrotz and his wife, Milly, deeded a tract of land to a group of trustees, charged with constructing "a church or house for public worship for the use and convenience of Ministers and others of the Christians [sic] Denominations Whatsoever."[11] While the deed mentioned an existing meeting house on the site, there is no extant evidence of a prior structure.[11] According to architectural historian Sandra Scaffidi, no particular Christian denomination received sole ownership of the edifice, which suggests that the church was intended to serve as a nondenominational "union church."[11][13] The church's earliest resident minister was reportedly Nicholas Leatherman, whose wife, Elizabeth High, was the daughter of George High, one of the church's original trustees.[11]

Brethren affiliation

Few records of the church's history exist, possibly because no single denomination or organization took ownership.[11][13] Several Christian denominations held meetings at Old Pine Church, including the Schwarzenau Brethren (or German Baptist Brethren), which began holding services at the church in the late 19th century.[11][13] As many of the Mill Creek valley's settlers were of German descent, Old Pine Church structure may have also been built as a meeting place for Brethren adherents, known as "Dunkers" or "Dunkards."[13][14][15] It is believed that Old Pine Church was also used by German Methodists.[13] The Brethren was a Christian denomination of Anabaptist origin that practiced baptism by triune immersion and exercised nonresistance.[14] Brethren adherents believed only in the New Testament, and professed no other creeds.[14] The interior of Old Pine Church, which consists of a single common space for all worshippers, also illustrates the building's connection with the Brethren and the denomination's beliefs regarding slavery.[14] According to the minutes from the 1782 meeting of the Brethren in Franklin County, Virginia: "It has been unanimously considered that it cannot be permitted in any way by the church that a member should purchase Negroes or keep them as Slaves."[14] While many residents in Hampshire County prior to the American Civil War were slaveholders, it is thought that Brethren adherents in the county did not own slaves or depend upon slave labor.[14]

The Brethren denomination had been present in the South Branch Potomac River valley from as early as the 1750s, although records of early Brethren congregations are not extant possibly because they were served by peripatetic ministers.[14] In Dr. Emmert F. Bittinger's historical research on the Brethren Church in Hampshire County in his Allegheny Passage (1990), it is noted that the Church of the Brethren denomination recognized Old Pine Church as belonging to the larger Beaver Run congregation, which was centered approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Old Pine Church.[14] The Beaver Run congregation was the first organization of the Brethren in Hampshire County.[15] Old Pine Church and its predecessor structures were probably utilized by members of the Beaver Run congregation because the distance was too considerable to traverse between the northern region of the Mill Creek valley and the church on Beaver Run.[14] Thus, Old Pine Church began as a mission of the Beaver Run congregation.[16] Because of its location in vicinity of the Hardy County boundary line, Old Pine Church congregation's district spanned both counties.[16]

By 1870, Old Pine Church was primarily used exclusively by the Brethren denomination.[13] Around 1870, the Nicholas congregation of Brethren were in use of the church, led by Dr. Leatherman.[16] According to the Beaver Run Church Book, membership at Old Pine Church was 78 in 1879 and numbered 100 in 1881.[14] The Beaver Run congregation modified its district's boundaries in 1879, which may have resulted in a division of the congregation at Old Pine Church into two factions: White Pine Church of the Brethren and Old Pine Church.[14] Both churches continued to worship at Old Pine Church at different times.[14] White Pine Church of the Brethren worshiped at the church from the 1870s until the construction of their own church building in 1907.[14][17] Old Pine Church continued to utilize the church and worship there.[14][17] By 1897, Old Pine Church remained under collective ownership by several Christian denominations, although the Brethren were the church's largest shareholders.[16] White Pine Church of the Brethren remained listed in the Brethren Conference Minutes as "Pine Church" until 1912, when members of the church petitioned the Brethren Conference to change their name from "Pine" to "White Pine."[14]

Old Pine Church reportedly housed a school in the early 20th century, while still serving as a center for worship.[13][18] A small one-room addition to the church was constructed to the north façade of the building, which served as the boarding room for the school's teacher.[18]

Restoration

In 1968, residents of the Purgittsville community raised the necessary funds to conduct a restoration of Old Pine Church. It is during this restoration that the boarding room addition was likely removed from the church structure. There are no extant remains of the addition. During the restoration, the church's unpainted weatherboards were painted, a new roof was installed, the original windows were repaired, and the original wood floor was replaced. The pressed metal ceiling may have been added during the restoration.[18]

Current use

As of 2012, Old Pine Church is still used for community gatherings, funeral services, revival meetings, and an annual church service.[13][18] However, regular church services have not taken place in the church since the middle of the 20th century.[18] The church's adjacent cemetery also continues to be used for burials.[18] Throughout its existence, Old Pine Church has been known by various names, including "Mill Church," "Nicholas Church," and simply "Pine Church."[11][16][17][19]

In 2008, the Hampshire County Historic Landmarks Commission and the Hampshire County Commission embarked upon an initiative to place structures and districts on the National Register of Historic Places following a series of surveys of historic properties throughout the county.[20] The county received funding for the surveying and documentation of Hampshire County architecture and history from the State Historic Preservation Office of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History.[20] Old Pine Church was one of the first eight historic properties to be considered for placement on the register as a result of the county's initiative.[20] The other seven properties were: Capon Chapel, Fort Kuykendall, Hickory Grove, Hook Tavern, North River Mills Historic District, Springfield Brick House, and Valley View.[20] According to Hampshire County Commission's compliance officer, Charles Baker, places of worship were not typically selected for inclusion in the register, however, Old Pine Church and Capon Chapel were exceptions because both "started out as meeting houses."[20] Old Pine Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on December 12, 2012 because of its "significant settlement-era rural religious architecture in the Potomac Highlands."[11]

Architecture

Church exterior

The west and south elevations of Old Pine Church.

Constructed in 1838, Old Pine Church is a large, one-story, front gable log building.[7][20] The church exhibits a symmetrical front façade, facing to the west, and encompasses a central main entrance consisting of double four-pannelled doors.[7] The main entrance is reached by two concrete steps, which are adjoined by a modern metal balustrade.[7] A small wooden sign painted white reading "Old Pine Church" in black lettering is located over the church's main entrance.[7] The main entrance is flanked on either side by one nine-over-six double-hung sash wooden window.[7]

The church's side elevations, facing toward the north and south, feature two symmetrically-placed nine-over-six double-hung sash wooden windows. Between the two windows on the church's north elevation is located an exterior concrete block chimney of modern construction. The east (rear) elevation of the church is also symmetrical in plan, and features three nine-over-six double-hung sash wooden windows with the center window elevated above the other two windows. The church's windows have been repaired throughout its history, with materials compatible to those used in their original fabrication utilized.[7]

Located beneath each of the church's four respective corners is located a large uncut stone pier.[7] At the foundation of the church's perimeter are located fieldstones, which were emplaced at a later date following the building's construction to discourage intrusion by animals.[7] The original hewn log beams are visible beneath the church, with some bark remaining on the logs.[7] The church is sheathed in brown-painted wooden German siding and is crowned by a modern standing seam metal roof.[7][20]

According to architectural historian Sandra Scaffidi, the simple form and construction of Old Pine Church is indicative of the early settlers’ access to materials, and it serves as an example of the early log construction techniques in religious architecture of the Hampshire County's earliest settlers. According to Scaffidi, Old Pine Church is representative of a "simple design and form common to the early ecclesiastical buildings" and an "excellent example of one of the area’s early rural church complexes."[21]

Church interior

The church's interior exhibits an open architectural plan.[7] Against the rear (east) wall, centered underneath the middle window, is located a simple wooden frame pulpit.[7] The church's floor consists of pine board that are replacements installed during the church's 1968 restoration.[7][21]

The church's ceiling measures approximately 15 feet (4.6 m) in height and is clad in pressed metal panels. A small opening in the ceiling allows for access to the church's attic. The window wells measure approximately 1 foot (0.30 m), and are not flanked by decorative moldings. The interior walls are covered in plasterboard, which remains unfinished.[21]

The church's small wood-burning stove was originally located in the center of the sanctuary, but it was relocated to the church's north wall in later years. The wood-burning stove serves as the church's sole source of heat.[21]

Several of the church's pews date from 1857, and remain in use. The pews have a "minimalist appearance" and each pew consists of a long wooden plank that serves as the seat, with a thin rail supported by three spindles serving as the backrest. The pews are supported by three arched supports, which are joined to the seat by a mortise and tenon joint and reinforced with nails. The pews of newer fabrication within the church exhibit identical design elements, although with modern nails and timber. The pews are arranged against the church's west elevation with a center aisle. Two pews are located on the north elevation with four pews located on the south elevation; the east elevation serves as the location of the pulpit. An upright piano is positioned in the northeastern corner of the church.[21]

Cemetery

The southwestern area of the cemetery adjoining Old Pine Church. The large oak tree overhanging the cemetery is located to the right.

Old Pine Church is surrounded on three sides by a cemetery containing approximately 200 interments, the oldest section of which is located to the immediate east and south of the church building.[21] The earliest extant gravestone dates from 1834, however, several unmarked interment sites within the surrounding cemetery may exist from as early as 1759.[13][21] The church's sign along U.S. Route 220 erroneously lists the date of the cemetery's oldest interment sites as dating to 1792.[13]

The majority of the cemetery's headstones are simple in design, and inscribed with birth and death dates and they predominantly consist of a combination of rounded, arched stones, rectangular stones, and pyramidal-shaped obelisks, which appear to be cut from limestone. In the cemetery's southern portion, small rectangular stones likely serve as footstones. Beginning around 1950, the gravestones emplaced in the cemetery became more intricate with polished granite surfaces that lie atop roughly-cut stone foundations. The cemetery's gravestones are oriented both to the east and west.[21]

Old Pine Church's cemetery is surrounded by several mature trees, with a large oak tree overhanging the southwestern area of the cemetery. Outside of the National Register of Historic Places boundary to the northwest of Old Pine Church lies a second parcel of land acquired around 1950 for additional burials. The cemetery is enclosed by a chicken wire fence supported by wooden posts, with a large cattle gate to the north of the church which allows machinery access into the cemetery.[21]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Listings". Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 12/10/12 through 12/14/12. National Park Service. 2012-12-21.
  2. ^ Scaffidi 2012, p. 1 of the PDF file.
  3. ^ a b c d Old Fields Quadrangle – West Virginia (Map). 1 : 24,000. 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic). United States Geological Survey. 1970. OCLC 35790339. {{cite map}}: Unknown parameter |publisher-link= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey. "Geographic Names Information System: Feature Detail Report for Purgitsville (Feature ID: 1545324)". Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  5. ^ Scaffidi 2012, p. 4 of the PDF file.
  6. ^ Geographic Names Information System, United States Geological Survey. "Geographic Names Information System: Feature Detail Report for Old Pine Church (Feature ID: 1544364)". Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Scaffidi 2012, p. 5 of the PDF file.
  8. ^ a b c Munske & Kerns 2004, p. 9.
  9. ^ "The Diary, Correspondence and Papers of Robert "King" Carter of Virginia 1701–1732". University of Virginia Library, University of Virginia. Retrieved March 23, 2014.
  10. ^ a b Munske & Kerns 2004, p. 75.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Scaffidi 2012, p. 7 of the PDF file.
  12. ^ Brannon 1976, p. 402.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Munske & Kerns 2004, p. 76.
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Scaffidi 2012, p. 8 of the PDF file.
  15. ^ a b Maxwell & Swisher 1897, p. 385.
  16. ^ a b c d e Maxwell & Swisher 1897, p. 386.
  17. ^ a b c Brethren Encyclopedia, Inc. 1983, p. 1341.
  18. ^ a b c d e f Scaffidi 2012, p. 9 of the PDF file.
  19. ^ Bittinger 1990, p. 231.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g Pisciotta, Marla (May 11, 2011). "Preserving Our History". Hampshire Review. Romney, West Virginia. p. 1B.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i Scaffidi 2012, p. 6 of the PDF file.

Bibliography

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