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Johnsville Church

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1874, John S. Holsinger. 8860 Johnsville Church Rd.
  • (HABS; Photograph by Tim Buchman)

The religious life of German settlers in the Catawba Valley was served by this church. The German Baptist congregation built this church according to the design guidelines of nineteenth-century Dunkard architect Holsinger of Pennsylvania. Simplicity was the rule—no spires, no pew cushions, nothing that was not strictly necessary. As decreed by church doctrine, the weatherboarded frame church has two entrances, one for men and one for women, and men and women kept to their own sides within the church during meetings. The two entrances are on the building's long side and are set between three windows. The church is set on a coursed stone half-basement with a massive fireplace that was used to cook the food that was part of their religious service.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Anne Carter Lee
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Data

What's Nearby

Anderson-Doosing Farm
Barnett-Starkey Place
Pleasant Grove
Pompey Callaway House
First Baptist Church (Big Spring Baptist Church)

Citation

Anne Carter Lee, "Johnsville Church", [Catawba, Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/VA-02-RK63.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Virginia vol 2

Buildings of Virginia: Valley, Piedmont, Southside, and Southwest, Anne Carter Lee and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2015, 427-428.

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