Ebenezer Church and Cemetery Complex

The original meetinghouse of this important Baptist church complex was constructed during the late eighteenth century. The entrance and interior have been reconfigured several times. In the early nineteenth century a theological rift divided the membership into socalled Old School and New School congregations. Both groups used the Old Ebenezer Church for worship. Damage to the building from a fire in 1855 prompted the New School congregation to construct the New Ebenezer Church. Its full classical portico is unusual for rural Baptist churches. Another significant element of the building is the trompe l'oeil painting at the pulpit end of the sanctuary, an extraordinary image of a large apse flanked by engaged columns. This work was completed in the late nineteenth century by Loudoun County artist Lucien Whiting Powell. By the 1930s the congregation had diminished and possession passed to the Ebenezer Cemetery Company, which has maintained and restored the structures. The complex is used occasionally for services and other events.