Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 08/15/1972
NRHP Listing Date 12/05/1972
NRHP Reference Number 72001383
This simple Presbyterian meetinghouse in Augusta County was erected in 1793 to serve a congregation founded a half century earlier. Old Providence Stone Church remained in service until 1859 when the congregation outgrew it and built a larger structure nearby. The building was thus subsequently used as a school, residence, general store, and finally a social hall. It was gutted by fire in 1959 but the congregation gave it some semblance of its original appearance with the replacement of its roof and windows. The Augusta County church’s exterior now serves to illustrate the plain character of the Shenandoah Valley’s early stone meetinghouses. Buried in the adjacent cemetery of the Old Providence Stone Church are the parents of Cyrus McCormick, inventor of the reaper, and the parents of J. A. E. Gibbs, inventor of an early sewing machine.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: May 31, 2022
