123-0042 Second Presbyterian Church

For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF

VLR Listing Date 12/12/1989

NRHP Listing Date 01/14/1991

NRHP Reference Number 90002114

Second Presbyterian Church was begun in 1861, in the opening months of the Civil War, when construction in Virginia had all but ceased. Its design is credited to the Rev. Theodorick Pryor, the church’s pastor. The exterior, a typical work of mid-19th-century Gothic Revival, originally had a spire above its crenelated belfry, but it was toppled by a storm in 1862. The present spire was erected in 1984. The church was hit by a Union shell during a service in 1865, but it failed to explode. The main glory of the church is the interior, which has some of the richest Gothic-style plasterwork in the state. Its focal point is the rostrum emphasized by a massive central pulpit and a ribbed vaulted apse crowned by an ogival arch.  The church is located in the listed Folly Castle Historic District.

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Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark

Updated: May 26, 2021