Rehoboth Church
N 37° 35.282 W 080° 30.497
17S E 543411 N 4160221
The Rehoboth Church is the oldest church building still standing west of the Alleghany Mountains
Waymark Code: WM1QPZ
Location: West Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 06/25/2007
Views: 42
One of the best accounts of the Rehoboth Church comes from The History of Monroe County, West Virginia by Oren F. Morton, originally published in 1916. Part of Mr. Morton’s account reads:
"The church building was completed in June, 1786. Only logs of medium size were used and it would have taken but a very few days to fell the trees and put the timbers into place. Samuel CLARK, a veteran of the Revolution, was one of the men who placed the wall-logs in their positions. The little building, whose floor space is not quite twenty-one feet by twenty-nine, was set up near the bottom of a circular depression in the limestone tableland. From this circumstance it can scarcely be seen from a distance of more than a hundred yards in any direction. The choice of ground was doubtless because it was not yet felt that the danger of Indian raids was entirely over. The red men could not have come within rifle-shot unseen. It had sometimes been necessary for the settlers around to shelter themselves in Byrnside's fort about two miles away. On one occasion the KEENANs ran to the fort in the darkness. Their baby Margaret was wrappped in a white sheet, so that her mother could better see the way." SOURCE/CREDIT:http://www.rootsweb.com/~wvgreenb/history/rehoboth.html
The cemetery that surrounds the church contains the graves of some of the areas earliest settlers, including several veterans of the American Revolutionary War.
The Old Rehoboth Church is the oldest church building still standing that is located west of the Allegheny Mountains. Bishop Francis Asbury consecrated the church in 1786. An iron plaque spells the sentiment of those who gave the land and church for worship "as long as the grass grows and water flows." There is a museum and conference center located adjacent to the original church. The museum has significant historical artifacts on display and is open to the public on a limited basis. The museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sundays 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. through October.
The text of the historic marker reads:
REHOBOTH CHURCH
"Indians were still about when Rehoboth Church was dedicated by Bishop Asbury in 1786, and rifles as well as Bibles were carried by the worshipers. This is the oldest church building west of the Allegheny Mountains."
TEXT OF NEW MARKER ISSUED IN 2009
Rehoboth Church
Oldest extant Protestant church west of the Alleghenies. Erected 1786 on land donated by Edward Keenan. Bishop Francis Asbury preached here in July 1788, held three Methodist conferences in 1790’s, and performed the first Methodist ordination west of the Alleghenies. Named a Methodist shrine in 1960 an listed on the National Register in 1974.
Erected 2009 by West Virginia Archives and History.
Marker Title: Rehoboth Church
Marker Location: Route 3 at Rehoboth Church Road
County or Independent City: Monroe County
Web Site: [Web Link]
Marker Program Sponsor: State of West Virginia
Marker Number: Not listed
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