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Moorefield Presbyterian Church

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1847–1855, 1929, 1964. Milton L. Grigg. 101 South Main St. (east side of South Main St. between Winchester Ave. and Old Stone Tavern)

Charles Lanman attended services soon after this church was completed and was “particularly pleased with what [he] saw and heard: In every particular the church was plain, but perfectly neat and comfortable; and instead of an organ, with its attending flourishes and overtures, psalms and hymns were sung by the congregation, to the good old tunes of a century ago.” In spite of renovations, restorations, and the installation of an organ, his overall description still applies. Set demurely back from the street in a small churchyard, the Greek Revival brick building maintains its “neat and comfortable” demeanor. Doric pilasters framing the recessed central portico and defining the corners support a full entablature complete with triglyphs, metopes, and guttae. Pilasters also define the side bays; those that mark the centerline on each side were left hollow to serve as flues for stoves that originally heated the interior. As is often the case in buildings of its time and place, there are lingering Federal elements, such as the prominent lunette in the pediment. The belfry contains a bell cast in 1842 by J. Wilbank of Philadelphia, bought from a German-Swiss colony in Maysville in adjoining Grant County. In 1927–1928 a Sunday school annex was built to the rear, and the sanctuary was remodeled. A 1964 renovation, directed by Charlottesville, Virginia, architect Milton Grigg, added a curved pulpit recess with organ grilles and tabernacle frames to each side and a central pulpit with a sounding board. These elements provide a Georgian Revival ambience to the interior.

Writing Credits

Author: 
S. Allen Chambers Jr.
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Citation

S. Allen Chambers Jr., "Moorefield Presbyterian Church", [Moorefield, West Virginia], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/WV-01-HD9.

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