Rehoboth Church - Union, West Virginia
N 37° 35.413 W 080° 30.347
17S E 543631 N 4160465
The Rehoboth Church is thought to be the oldest church building west of the Alleghany Mountains. The small log structure was erected in 1786 and is today covered by a protective shed roof.
Waymark Code: WM1451
Location: West Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 01/08/2007
Views: 16
One of the best accounts of the Rehoboth Church comes from The History of Monroe County, West Virginia by Oren F. Morton, originally published in 1916. Part of Mr. Morton’s account reads:
"The church building was completed in June, 1786. Only logs of medium size were used and it would have taken but a very few days to fell the trees and put the timbers into place. Samuel CLARK, a veteran of the Revolution, was one of the men who placed the wall-logs in their positions. The little building, whose floor space is not quite twenty-one feet by twenty-nine, was set up near the bottom of a circular depression in the limestone tableland. From this circumstance it can scarcely be seen from a distance of more than a hundred yards in any direction. The choice of ground was doubtless because it was not yet felt that the danger of Indian raids was entirely over. The red men could not have come within rifle-shot unseen. It had sometimes been necessary for the settlers around to shelter themselves in Byrnside's fort about two miles away. On one occasion the KEENANs ran to the fort in the darkness. Their baby Margaret was wrappped in a white sheet, so that her mother could better see the way."
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The cemetery that surrounds the church contains the graves of some of the areas earliest settlers, including several veterans of the American Revolutionary War.
The Old Rehoboth Church is the oldest church building still standing that is located west of the Allegheny Mountains. Bishop Francis Asbury consecrated the church in 1786. An iron plaque spells the sentiment of those who gave the land and church for worship "as long as the grass grows and water flows." There is a museum and conference center located adjacent to the original church. The museum has significant historical artifacts on display and is open to the public on a limited basis. The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sundays 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. through October.