The Little Brick Church, also known as Virginia's Chapel and William Tompkins Church, is a historic

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

that sits along US Route 60 in Cedar Grove,

Kanawha County, West Virginia Kanawha County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 180,745, making it West Virginia's most populous county. The county seat is Charleston, which is also the state capital and most ...

. It was built in 1853, and is a small brick structure on a stone foundation. The building was nearly square when built, but lengthened within a few years. It features a louvered octagonal

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, with

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. In 1912 a bell tower was added to the church. A mural behind the pulpit was painted by Forrest Hull in the early 1900s. The Chapel was occupied during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

by both sides. Originally a non-denominational chapel, it was for some time used exclusively by a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

congregation. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1974.

References

External links

William Morris Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Pratt, Kanawha County, West Virginia
American Civil War sites in West Virginia Churches in Kanawha County, West Virginia Kanawha County, West Virginia, in the American Civil War Methodist churches in West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Kanawha County, West Virginia Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Virginia Churches completed in 1853 {{WestVirginia-Methodist-church-stub