The Stone Church in Markham

It’s been six years since I’ve stopped at this church to take pictures. The only reason I stopped today was the Charlie was fussing in the car so we decided to take him for a walk. I had picked up Deborah and Frank to go for a drive in the country, plus a stop in Front Royal.

The church dates to 1819. There are some huge trees on the property that appear to be at least that old.

Bright Walkway, Dark Trees

 Lindale Mennonite Cemetery 

Linville, VA

This cemetery on a hill "began in 1788 when pioneer Abraham Brenneman was bereaved of his wife Marie and newborn daughter. For their burial he set aside a small plot of his large farm. It became the oldest Mennonite cemetery of the area." It is next to Lindale Mennonite Church.

Prescribed Fire at Wolf Gap

Smoke on the mountain! I knew what it was because I had seen an announcement that the forest service was going to do a prescribed burn at Wolf Gap.

Yesterday I was driving home from recycling coupled with Charlie’s afternoon outing, and I could see the smoke from Woodstock.  I decided to take a closer look, so I drove out to St. Luke.

Let’s go west just a little ways and take another look.

I discovered some back roads that I had not driven before, and saw some nice farms. I’ll study the map and go back again to explore.

Earlier Post: Bringing Fire Back to the Mountains

Linking to: Skywatch

Orrick Cemetery in Winter

Winchester, VA

Orrick Cemetery is a historically black cemetery that’s over 100 years old. It was named for Robert Orrick, who donated much of the land. 

Across the street is the Calvary Pentecostal Church of God. I was not able to find a history of the church.

In downtown Winchester, there is a historical marker in front of the home of Robert Orrick who was born enslaved but established a successful business in Winchester.

Methodist Church in Mt. Jackson

This is Mount Jackson UMC. I took the picture from the dog park, and originally I was going to include pictures of Charlie at the park, but I see that the website with the church history may change or disappear, So I will quote from the history page here. (The domain name recently expired.) 

The original church was built in 1786 at Red Banks, three miles north of Mount Jackson. At some point the congregation "moved to a small building on Orkney Grade in Mount Jackson. The congregation numbered some of the very best citizens, both from the town and the rural districts.”

Later they "worshiped for some years in a schoolroom located on the ground now occupied by the Veterans Memorial. That property use to be the home of the old Mount Jackson Town Office. Sometime after leaving this location, the group worshipped in the vine-clad brick church now known as the Union Church. There the congregation grew and flourished, and it became evident that a new church would have to be acquired in which to hold worship services."

The present building "was built on Orkney Drive (then called Doyle Street) in 1884. The land (one fourth acre) was purchased from L. Triplett, Jr. and Laura, his wife, for two hundred twenty-five dollars. In the 1930’s Rev. Lambert, helped by his members, remodeled the original structure and added the memorial windows."

A new building was added in 1985, and restoration of the sanctuary was completed three years later.

Pond in Autumn, Capon Springs

 Hampshire County, WV

Capon Springs is a charming town known for its mineral springs. It was established as the town of Watson in 1787, but eventually became known as Capon Springs after the nearby Cacapon River.

I drove there on Thursday to enjoy the autumn colors. I decided to go through Wardensville on the way home and take Trout Run Road over the mountain. On an impulse, I turned up a steep driveway to a small church that I had noticed before but had never photographed.

This is Mount Vernon Union Church near the mountain community of Perry. I was unable to find any information online except that it has a cemetery. A sign by the road says that the church is open from June through October. I imagine that the driveway becomes impassable In wintry weather. 

Piedmont Art Show, 2025

The annual art show in The Plains, Virginia, is always worth seeing. It’s in the beautiful Grace Episcopal Church, and stained glass windows amplify the beauty of the art.

I took these pictures on October 4. Here are some paintings that caught my eye. 

The beagle, of course, reminds me of Charlie. 

Mt. Zion Church in St. Louis, VA

Loudoun County, VA

This Baptist Church was established in 1885. It is in the village of St. Louis, which was established by formerly enslaved people after the Civil War. 

The parking lot is across the road. The church has a blessing box next to it labeled Free Food Pantry. 

Friedens Church in Mount Crawford

Friedens Church was organized in the mid-1700s. The older section of the current church dates to the early 1800s.

There are Revolutionary War soldiers buried in the cemetery, but I did not locate them.

The church is located on Friedens Church Road east of Mount Crawford, not far from Interstate 81.

Fallen Angel

 Friedens Church Cemetery 

Salvation Army Chapel

 Cloud Street, Front Royal

Wordless Wednesday on Tuesday

It’s Vernal Equinox Day

...Better known as the first day of Spring!

Flowers are definitely starting to bloom. The first scene is in Winchester and the rest are near Front Royal.

 

That sky deserves another picture.

The view is from Bennett’s Chapel.

I didn’t take a picture of the church this time because the parking lot was full. I’ve posted pictures of it before. As you can see, I took them from almost the same spot in the parking area.

Lutheran Church between New Market and Forestville

Mount Zion is a common name for churches around here. This one is a Lutheran church on Ridge Road northwest of New Market. It had its roots in 1853, and early services were held in a school house. The present church was completed in 1872, with the bell tower added in 1918.

There is a blessing box on the grounds, which is fairly common at churches in our region. You can leave non-perishable food there for people to pick up if they need it.

The stone wall looks like it could have been a foundation at one time, or perhaps it is just part of the cemetery.

The First Integrated Church in the County

New Market, VA

Manor Memorial Methodist Church was integrated in 1965. I was surprised to see a marker about this story that was erected by Shenandoah Valley Battlefields organization because they usually stick closely to Civil War history. It turns out that this church was in existence during the Civil War and was probably used as a hospital, like every public building and many homes. The valley saw many battles in 1862 and 1864, and a significant battle raged through the town of New Market.

I’ve submitted the sign and complete text to the Historical Marker Database and it should be available there in a few days. There’s a QR code on the sign for an audio description and here are some excerpts, transcribed by software.

The Methodist congregation in New Market built their first church, a log building, on Lee Street around 1831. In 1857, they purchased this lot to build their new church, completing the original wooden part of the structure in 1861, the first year of the Civil War. That original structure stood here during the Battle of New Market on May 15, 1864. While there is no known account of the church during the battle, it no doubt experienced the same trauma as other buildings: Artillery shells exploding around it with thunderous ear-shattering concussions, and musketballs rattling off the walls.

After the war, an African-American Methodist congregation was formed in New Market by African-American ministers who visited the area to serve recently freed slaves and local black communities. In 1873 the congregation opened Asbury Methodist Church on Cadet Road.

The African-American population in New Market declined in numbers over the years and by 1965 the congregation of Asbury Methodist was too small to remain in operation. Historically black Cavalry Methodist Church in Mount Jackson faced the same challenges so in that year, both churches merged with Manor Memorial Church here.

Mt. Zion in Strasburg

Yesterday’s post mentioned several old cemeteries in Shenandoah County.  Since I was in Strasburg today, I went by the Mount Zion Methodist Church to take a picture of the old African-American cemetery.

Interestingly, the church building dates back to 1869 but it was not on this site. According to Shenandoah Stories, the original building was dismantled and moved to the present site, where it has been improved over the years.

Snowy Search for Linkup Photos

Do you give yourself photography assignments? I've been blogging for over 19 years, and I find myself looking for particular subjects when I'm out running errands, or sometimes even just for a reason to go somewhere. Of course, it doesn't always work out, especially if the weather interferes.

After being pretty much snowed-in last Monday, I drove to Harrisonburg on Tuesday with the idea of doing some grocery shopping and taking some pictures. I headed for the library downtown because I had read there was a new mural there. Unfortunately, the library was closed due to the weather. One thing to understand about living in a mountain/valley region is that the roads might be clear in town, but workers who live in the nearby hills can’t get there because the roads are icy or still covered in snow. (Oh, the confusion this causes to parents of school-age children! “Why are the schools still closed? My street is fine.”)

I took a picture of Asbury Church across the street, and also a street scene. There were no pedestrians to be seen.

Not far away, I spotted a new mural on Liberty Street. I parked the car and walked to the side of the building to take pictures. 

It wasn’t until I enlarged this picture today that I saw that there was a reflection on the window. That must be a plastic storm window because the reflected dumpster is distorted.

The mural continues along the front of the building. 

As I composed this post, I searched for the name of the artist and found it is Tyler Kauffman, who completed this last month. He also painted other murals that I’ve shared: a bicycle scene and Space Cowboy. 

Linking to Refections / Shadow Shot / Murals

Small Food Pantries

Strasburg, VA

This building is associated with St. Paul Lutheran Church. I stopped there this afternoon to leave a few items in the Blessing Box, which is now located on the porch. There’s also a cabinet of reading materials, including Bibles.

The church is across Washington Street from the white building. It looked very fine in the golden sunlight.

I’ve made it a point to mention the location of various blessing boxes on this blog so that if someone is searching for free food in one of the towns here, they can at least find one of these cupboards with soup and beans, plus hopefully something more interesting to eat. There are a variety of food distribution sites in our valley, but many just operate on certain days and times. Often these are associated with a church. 

Here are some of the blessing boxes that I have shown in the past.

Mosaic Linkup