Cartersville Baptist Church - Reston, Virginia
Posted by: flyingmoose
N 38° 56.617 W 077° 18.733
18S E 299610 N 4313061
A small historic church located along Hunter Mill Drive.
Waymark Code: WM12Y5E
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/04/2020
Views: 1
Cartersville Baptist Church, Hunter Mill Road, Reston Currently, nestled among office plazas, single-family and estate homes, and the Dulles Toll Road, Cartersville Baptist Church was first built in 1863 by freedmen from Oak Grove Baptist Church in Herndon. They used the existing Washington and Old Dominion Railroad to travel to the church — the current W&OD Trail owned and maintained by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. Many families also traveled from what is now the Tysons Corner area. The land, itself, has a storied history. Originally, the church did not own the property. The first documented owner, Bethia Fairfax, purchased the land for $65 in 1848, but her ownership dates back to 1846. Fairfax received 36 acres of land, including a spring and a hickory tree, which is still standing. While her sons, who could pass as white, were registered in the Freed Negro registry, she was not. Assuming her children would get the land at her death, Fairfax left no will. Still, each child was left 1/7 of the land. One daughter, Rosie Carter, lived on the land with her children and other free blacks when construction of the church began in 1863. An active member in the church until her death in 1906, the church bears the name of Rosie Carter. The church paid $5 for its land in 1903. They had a baptismal creek near Hunter's Station. A second church was built on the original site in 1951 but burned completely to the ground in 1972. Cartersville's third church is the home of the current congregation. Deacon Wooden's grave is the only visible marker indicating the cemetery lying beneath the parking lot. The church served as a school until the establishment of the Louise Archer School in Vienna. Some of the students would take the train to Hunter Mill Post Office and then walk. And one teacher would take the train from Washington, D.C., daily.
Article on fire and rebuild: (
visit link)