Windy Cove Church, Bath County, Virginia snapshot photo, 1948

Containers:

Box 12, Folder 31

Biographical / historical:

Windy Cove Presbyterian Church is located at 102 Windy Cove Rd, Millboro, Virginia. Situated along the scenic Cowpasture River in Bath County, this congregation was originally founded in 1749. It serves as the historic "mother church" for Presbyterians throughout the Bath and Highland county regions. Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, seeking freedom of worship under the leadership of the Reverend Alexander Craighead, built the first log meetinghouse roughly 1.5 miles down the Cowpasture River. The original log church was burned to the ground during an active Native American raid, and several early congregation members were killed. In 1766 the congregation relocated to the current cove site and constructed a second log facility. The area was named "Windy Cove" after a nearby limestone "blowing cave" that naturally vents cool air. Following a third temporary log building erected in 1816, local river planters and upland farmers pooled resources in 1838 to build the classic, red-brick sanctuary and session house that stands today. The structural design was updated with a front vestibule in 1948 and a major rear expansion in 1959. The congregation transitioned its affiliation to the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO).

Other descriptive data:

Gift of Eva Moore of Lynchburg, Virginia. This is stated in a letter from Rev. Bernard Bangley, who used to be a minister at Bethesda Church in Rockbridge Baths, Virginia, which is included in this folder.

Access and use