Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 09/14/1998
NRHP Listing Date 02/22/1999
NRHP Reference Number 99000141
Bethel Baptist Church, built in 1894, is a Gothic Revival brick building with decorative buttresses defining each bay. The Chesterfield County building features a steep, slate-covered gable roof. Many founding members descended from French Huguenots, and the form and detailing of the church appears to be based on French, rather than English Gothic, models. The interior displays a rib-vaulted chancel and tongue-and-groove, beaded-pine wainscoting and ceiling. This is the congregation’s third building, which replaced an 1820s meeting house. In 1907, 1980, and 1987 additions were made to the church for classroom and office space. Adjacent to the church sits a 1910 gymnasium, since used as the educational building/fellowship hall. During the antebellum years, the church had a large African American membership, and a separate black congregation formed during the Civil War. A handsome cast-iron fence encloses the cemetery, established in 1885.
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: April 8, 2021
