Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery a historic Baptist church and cemetery located in Gainesville, Prince William County, Virginia along U.S. Route 29. Built in 1928, the church would be subject to an arson attack in 2012, which left significant damage in latter additions to the building. The church has been closed to churchgoers and under repair since.[3]
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery | |
 Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in October 2021 | |
    | |
| Location | 15008 Lee Hwy, Gainesville, VA, 20155 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°47′23″N 77°38′17″W / 38.78983°N 77.63818°W |
| Built | 1928 |
| NRHP reference No. | 100006159[1] |
| VLR No. | 076-6009[2] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | February 19, 2021[1] |
| Designated VLR | December 10, 2020[2] |
The site was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2020 and the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.[2]
History
editEstablishment and early church buildings
editFollowing the American Civil War, in the 1870s, emancipated African American slaves would purchase land near Gainesville from a bankrupt farmer and form a community known as "The Settlement". The Mount Pleasant Baptist Church would be established on the land in 1877, and then relocated into a new church building built from logs at a different location within the community in 1882. A new church at this location was built in 1889 after the 1882 log church was destroyed by a fire, presumably caused by an arson attack. The church building would once again be replaced in 1928 by the building that currently stands. Throughout the 20th century, the church building had several additions to the rear side of the building.[2]
2012 arson attack
editOn August 10, 2012, the church building survived an arson attack, in which nobody was inside the church at the time of the incident and no injuries were reported. While the original part of the building was mostly intact despite some smoke damage and broken windows, the fire caused severe damages to the latter rear-side additions of the building.[4] It was not until almost 8 years later in June 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and the arise of subsequent protests, that the church's reparation efforts were given widespread attention. To assist in funding the church's now 5-year long campaign to repair the church, Delegate Danica Roem started a GoFundMe campaign, which raised over $20,000 in the span of two days and doubled the church's $10,000 goal for the first phase of the $100,000 total cost of reparations of the building.[5]
The arsonist, Maurice Thomson Michaely from nearby Haymarket, was a minor at the time of the attack and had no prior criminal record.[3] Nicknamed "Hjalti" as a member of the Lynchburg-based Norse neopagan group Wolves of Vinland,[6] which has since been identified as a neo-Völkisch and white nationalist hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center,[7][8] Michaely was not charged with a hate crime for defacing the historic Black church, but eventually pled guilty on June 4, 2013 to felony arson, unlawfully entering property of another with the intent to damage, and maliciously destroying or defacing church property.[9] He was sentenced to and served two and a half years in jail and was ordered by the court to pay $250 per month to the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church as restitution.[3]
While the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church remains closed and under continuous repairs, the church's congregation is temporarily worshipping at the nearby Northern Virginia Baptist Center.[3]
Preservation
editIn a September 2020 Board of County Supervisors meeting, attempts to block a plan for future development near the church were rejected by Prince William County supervisors. Previously, attempts to block Dominion Energy from constructing power lines through the area were successful in 2017, but commentors at the 2020 public hearing speculated that the rejection was to reserve land for future residential and commercial development instead.[10]
On December 10, 2020, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources added Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery to the Virginia Landmarks Register. Months later on February 19, 2021, the National Park Service added the church and cemetery site to the National Register of Historic Places.[11]
Cemetery
editThe church's graveyard consists of around 200 graves,[a] the earliest dating back to 1885.[12]
Notes
edit- ^ Approx. 170 graves according to Fauquier Now,[12] approx. 230 according to the Virginia Landmarks Register.[2]
References
edit- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e "076-6009 Mount Pleasant Baptist Church". Virginia Department of Historic Resources. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d Kamphuis, Pam (11 March 2018). "Faith, Forgiveness, and Determination at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church". Fauquier Now. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ Sides, Emily (30 May 2019). "Preserving 'The Settlement'". InsideNoVa. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ Foretek, Jared (8 June 2021). "Damaged by arson years ago, church finds new support for repairs". InsideNoVa. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ Gray, Rosie (1 May 2019). "A Former Alt-Right Member's Message: Get Out While You Can". Buzzfeed News. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Neo-Völkisch". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Active Hate Groups in the United States in 2015". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Maurice Michaely pleads guilty to Mount Pleasant Baptist Church fire". WJLA-TV. 13 June 2013. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ Foretek, Jared (23 September 2020). "Prince William supervisors reject attempt to end development plan near historic Black neighborhood". InsideNoVa. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ Foretek, Jared (8 April 2021). "Mount Pleasant Baptist Church listed on historic register". InsideNoVa. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ a b Foretek, Jared (8 May 2020). "Almost Eight Years Later". Fauquier Now. Retrieved 22 November 2024.