South River Friends Meetinghouse - Lynchburg, Virginia
N 37° 22.398 W 079° 11.526
17S E 660077 N 4137818
Built on land given by John Lynch this Quaker Meeting House was built in 1798.
Waymark Code: WM233Y
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/27/2007
Views: 14
Quaker’s settled in the area that would become Lynchburg in the mid-1750’s. The first worship services was held as early as 1754 and the South River Meeting House was organized in 1757. Their first meeting house was a log structure that was built nearby on land donated by Sarah Clark Lynch. The original log building burned in 1768 and a second frame building was constructed on the original site. In 1791 the congregation had out grown the small frame building and the current stone structure was built on land donated by John Lynch, who was the founder of Lynchburg.
Due to economic hardship in the 1820’s many Quakers moved west to Ohio, and by the middle 1840’s the small congregation dissolved. The stone meeting house was abandoned and fell into a state of disrepair.
During the Civil War, Union Soldiers under the command of General David Hunter camped in and around the ruins of the stone church. General Hunter and his staff, which included two future Presidents, Rutherford B. Hayes, and William McKinley, established headquarters at nearby Sandusky.
In 1899, local Presbyterians purchased the property and after extensive renovations, used the stone building as their church. The Presbyterian held their first service in the renovated building in 1901 and continued to use the restored church 1950, when the adjacent larger church was built.
Today the South River Friends Meetinghouse is part of the Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church and is maintained as a historic landmark. Visitors may contact the secretary office at the adjacent Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church for a self-guided tour of the Old Meeting House. The secretary’s office is open Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Guided tours with costumed docents are available with three days advance notice, Monday through Friday. To arrange a tour, visitors should call the church office at (434) 239-2548.
Source/Credit: Quaker Memorial Presbyterian Church
Street address: 5810 Fort Avenue Lynchburg, Va. United States 24502
County / Borough / Parish: Lynchburg
Year listed: 1875
Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture, Engineering, Event
Periods of significance: 1759 -1799
Historic function: Religious Structure
Current function: Religious Structure, Historic Landmark
Privately owned?: yes
Hours of operation: From: 9:00 AM To: 3:00 AM
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Website 1: [Web Link]
Season start / Season finish: Not listed
Secondary Website 2: Not listed
National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
Please give the date and brief account of your visit. Include any additional observations or information that you may have, particularly about the current condition of the site. Additional photos are highly encouraged, but not mandatory.