With the holiday season upon us, I thought it might be nice to spotlight some of the historically significant churches in our area. These include Aquia Episcopal Church, Fredericksburg Baptist Church, Old Salem Church, Massaponax Church, Fredericksburg Presbyterian Church, St. Georges Episcopal Church, Fredericksburg United Methodist Church, Zion United Methodist Church, Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) and Union Church. Most of these churches witnessed the events of the Civil War firsthand, and many were founded back in the days when George Washington lived here. My own personal favorite (w/ the exception of my own church, Spotsylvania Presbyterian – which BTW, grew out of this one) is Fredericksburg Presbyterian.
Fredericksburg Presbyterian was also a personal favorite of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson as one of his own personal clergy in the field, the Reverend Beverly Tucker Lacy, preached there. The present Greek Revival style structure was erected in 1833 and is one of the two oldest churches in the downtown area of Fredericksburg. During the Civil War, the church was severely damaged; the church bell was given to the Confederacy to be melted down for cannons. During this time (1862) the church was used as a Federal hospital and Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, attended the wounded here from the Battle of Wilderness and Spotsylvania Courthouse. More then 26,000 sick and wounded moved through the hospital. After the war the church bell was replaced (1870), the interior was restored and the congregation had reformed.
In 1962, a bronze tablet was placed in the front yard in memory of Clara Barton. Today, the church still bears the scars of battle where two cannon balls were embedded in one of its pilasters. (Source: Simply Fredericksburg, Photo: By Francis Benjamin Johnston, circa. 1927, Library of Congress) For more information on this and other historic churches, please visit Simply Fredericksburg's HISTORIC CHURCHES