Old Chapel Church

The Old Chapel Church, also known locally as the "Snow Creek Chapel", was built in 1769 as a chapel of ease for the Church of England parish in what is today Penhook, Virginia.

The chapel was 32 ft × 24 ft (10 m × 7.5 m), a frame house with clapboard roof, a plank floor, with pulpit and desk. There would be a pitch of 12' to the roof. There were to be two doors and five windows, with a small table and benches.

A typical chapel in Colonial Virginia was built as a frame church, and the Old Chapel Church has post and beam construction. Over one hundred frame churches similar to this existed in Virginia before the American Revolution- now only four are still standing. One of these frame churches is St. John's Episcopal Church (Richmond, Virginia), where Patrick Henry gave his famous Give me liberty, or give me death! speech.

"Certain elements that he found confirmed the church’s historic significance. The church had a chancel door, an exit located near the communion table, which is typical of 17th and 18th century Anglican churches, Lounsbury said."

"The ancient roadbed @ the SW corner of the lot is believed to be a remnant of the Pigg River Road. This road and several others provided a major East – West route through Franklin County, Virginia, and the Old Chapel became a familiar landmark along the road. The last member of Old Chapel Church, Mrs. Virginal Kelley, passed in 2009 at the age of 95."

In 2017, the Old Chapel Church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Gov. Terry McAuliffe has also deemed the church a “Virginia Treasure,” a designation for ecological, cultural, scenic and recreational assets.

The chapel was also known as "the King's House" at the time of the American Revolution. This was in part because the land and church were owned by the King of England as head of the church, and also this is where local taxes were paid to the crown, usually in tobacco. A tradition exists that this was also an area where gunpowder and arms were stored by the British.

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Wikipedia