Pohick Church, Lorton, VA
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garmin_geek
N 38° 42.536 W 077° 11.627
18S E 309250 N 4286761
Rightly called "the Mother Church of Northern Virginia," Pohick was the first permanent church in the colony to be established north of the Occoquan River, sometime prior to 1724.
Waymark Code: WMBPKK
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 06/10/2011
Views: 7
Construction of the existing building started in 1769 and was completed in 1774.
...In 1732, the Virginia General Assembly established Truro Parish, defining it as all the lands in the colony above the Occoquan River, extending to the western frontier. As the only church within these boundaries, Pohick became the Parish Church of the newly formed district. Colonists residing within the parish soon elected twelve men to serve on the governing board known as the Vestry. Shortly thereafter, vestryman Augustine Washington (father of George Washington) successfully sponsored the nomination of Dr. Charles Green to serve as the parish's first permanent minister, known as the Rector. The preserved colonial Vestry Book records this and other vestry deeds during this period...
..Vestrymen George Washington, George Mason and George William Fairfax supervised the construction, which was completed in 1774, just before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Armed with survey maps, Washington was said to have argued for the new site, two miles north of the old church, as being more centrally located. It was also situated on the highest spot in the area, recalling the biblical image of a "city set on a hill" (Matt 5:14). In order to finance the project, all parishioner families paid larger than usual "tithes" or mandatory annual contributions. In addition, the wealthy plantation owners of the parish—including Washington, Mason and Fairfax—each purchased family pews inside their new house of worship...
...Tragically, a mere thirteen years later, the Civil War brought new devastation when occupying Union forces stripped the building’s interior for souvenirs of "Washington's Church" and used its worship space as a stable. Soldiers scrawled their names on the inside walls, carved graffiti onto the doorposts, and pockmarked the exterior with bullet holes. The interior damage can be seen from an 1862 Mathew Brady photo, while the outside markings can still be viewed today...
...Following the Civil war, services resumed in 1874, and a major restoration of its colonial interior began in 1890, thanks to the generous contributions of its congregation, the Mt. Vernon Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Mount Vernon Ladies Association, among others. While the renovation was largely completed in the twentieth century, smaller restoration and conservation projects continue to this day under the auspices of the Historic Pohick Church Foundation. Presently, this organization is raising funds for a permanent handicap ramp and for a fire suppression system...
Extensive history (
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