Valley Baptist is the fourth daughter church of the First Hillsboro Baptist Church, the roots of which extend back as far as May of 1763. It is said that it was formally organized in a nearby barn on the 6th of October, 1822.
Strangely, it seems that this, Valley Baptist Church, was built about 1871 but was not organized as a satellite of First Hillsboro Baptist until 1876. While the original section of the church still stands, it has been greatly expanded, with the addition of a large hall to the rear (east) and the north of the church.
Standing about a half kilometre west of the Hillsborough River, the church has a relatively large bell tower and steeple set well into the front gable and was built with a "widow's walk" around the top of the belfry, a not uncommon sight hereabouts. Originally built on what was most likely a rubble stone foundation, it was set on a concrete foundation in 1963.
Valley Baptist Church
DESCRIPTION OF HISTORIC PLACE
The Valley Baptist Church has proudly stood in this valley for one hundred and thirty-nine years. Beginning as a satellite of the Hillsborough Church in 1871, the Valley Baptist Church is an example of rural two-storey Gothic Revival church architecture from this era. It is located on Main Street in Hillsborough.
HERITAGE VALUE
The Valley Baptist Church is designated a Local Historic Place for its association with the religious history of the area and for its architecture.
The Valley Baptist Church is historically significant as a representative of the Baptist faith in Albert County. In 1822, Henry Steeves, one of the seven Steeves brothers who arrived in 1766, founded the Hillsborough Baptist Church in partnership with Rev. Joseph Crandall. By 1871, the pastor, Rev. John Hughes, decided to establish a satellite Baptist Church less the three kilometres away in Surrey. In 1877, fifty members from the Hillsborough Church formed the first congregation here at ‘The Valley’. In 1913 kerosene lighting gave way to natural gas. Electricity did not arrive until 1942, five years after a telephone was installed. In 1925, Mr. William Lewis accepted the position of organist. He faithfully served as music director for fifty-five years. The church has recruited, funded and dispatched missionaries to India, Africa, the Philippines, Bolivia and Haiti. The church building was placed on a foundation in 1963 and the 1100 square metre Fellowship Centre was dedicated in 2000. Equipped with the gymnasium in the Fellowship Centre, the church felt ready to bring a new ministry to the youth of the community.
These changes over the years were the result of dollars and cents and years of dedicated service rendered. The real currency for the Church and its congregation, however, are the religious and community works made possible by this church’s persistent presence in this valley for one hundred and thirty-nine years.
The Valley Baptist Church is also recognized for being a good example of rural Gothic Revival religious architecture from the 19th century. This style is evident in such features of the original building as its rectangular plan, the use of Gothic arch windows and the central square tower on the front façade.
CHARACTER-DEFINING ELEMENTS
- rectangular two-storey massing with rear additions;
- central square tower on the front façade;
- lancet vents with label moulding on the bell tower;
- tall narrow octagonal steeple;
- balustrade around base of steeple with finials at each corner;
- decorative frieze band under the tower eaves;
- corner board pilasters with modest capitals;
- tall, narrow multi-paned lancet windows with Gothic tracery label moulding;
- cement foundation;
- cement steps;
- moderately-pitched front-facing gable roof;
- returned eaves;
- lancet transom window above entrance;
- double door entrance;
- clapboard sheathing;
- double-hung windows;
- moulding under eaves;
- rod iron railings;
- tall inset red brick chimney.
From Historic Places Canada