First Catholic Chapel In Virginia
N 38° 28.432 W 077° 23.254
18S E 291720 N 4261094
The ruins of the first Catholic chapel is near the cemetery of the first English Catholic settlers in Stafford, VA.
Waymark Code: WMA33F
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 11/08/2010
Views: 2
Near the original
cemetery
of the first Catholic settlers in Virginia, there is a partial stone foundation with stone floor and steps. The site is marked with a inscribed granite block which reads:
COMMEMORATING
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE
FIRST CATHOLIC CHAPEL
IN VIRGINIA
DEDICATED OCTOBER 24, 1971
According to an article
published in 1925 in the Catholic Historical Review, Rev. D. J. O'Connell purchased six acres of land in Stafford County in Aquia where the first settlement had been located with the intention "to restore to its sacred uses the oldest land in the Old Dominion which had come under Catholic ownership". At the time, the land was abandoned and overgrown, including the "small stone structure where Catholics worshiped for the first time in Virginia". The restoration was assigned to the Catholic Women's Club of Richmond.
Jesuit missionaries from Spain were the first Catholic arrivals in Virginia. It is said they established one the first missions in the area in 1570 which included a log chapel and residence. Ultimately, they were massacred by the Indians whom they were trying to convert.
In the 1650s, the Brents, Sir Giles, Margaret, and Mary, relocated from Maryland and set up the first English Catholic settlement in Virginia.
The area restored by the Catholic Women's Club include the chapel ruins, the Brent Cemetery, and a bronze plaque to the Spanish Jesuit missionaries that was also recovered.
The chapel is not far from the Crucifix which commemorates the first Roman Catholic settlement in VA and stands at Rt. 1 and Telegraph Rd. in Stafford County. Less than a ½ mile away on Telegraph Rd. is a unpaved road. There is a gate across the entrance, but room to park and walk to the location. The coordinates to the road entrance are:
N 38° 28.615' W 077° 23.285'
References:
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