Mt. Zion Historic Park

Built in 1851, Mt. Zion Historic Park's Old School Baptist Church served as a place of worship and, because it stood at the junction of two early roads on high ground, became a critical Civil War site. From 1861 to 1865, the church building was used at various times as a barracks, hospital, prison, and rendezvous point. The Battle of Mt. Zion on July 6, 1864, brought Union forces into conflict with Confederate partisan fighter John S. Mosby and his men. Graffiti on the church's interior walls preserve the names and regiments of soldiers who were once there. The congregation worshipped there on the fourth Sunday of each month except during the Civil War years, and the church continued in religious use until 1980, when the congregation had dwindled to only a few people.

Virginia · United States