White Oak Church Explained

White Oak Church
Nrhp Type:nrhp
Designated Other1:Virginia Landmarks Register
Designated Other1 Date:August 21, 1990[1]
Designated Other1 Number:089-0076
Designated Other1 Num Position:bottom
Location:8 Caisson Rd., Falmouth, Virginia
Coordinates:38.3003°N -77.3758°W
Added:January 3, 1991
Refnum:90002112

White Oak Church, also known as White Oak Baptist Church and White Oak Primitive Baptist Church, is a historic Primitive Baptist church located off White Oak Road in Falmouth, Stafford County, Virginia. It was built sometime between 1789 and 1835, and is a rectangular frame structure sheathed in weatherboard. Also on the property are a contributing woodshed, men's and women's outhouses, and two cemeteries.[2]

During the Civil War in November 1862, White Oak Church became the center, for seven months, of an encampment of the Army of the Potomac. Around 20,000 soldiers of the VI Corps camped in the immediate area. At this time, the church served as a military hospital, a United States Christian Commission station, and as a photographic studio.[3]

After the Civil War, some descendants of soldiers in the 15th New Jersey Volunteer Infantry made reunion trips to the Fredericksburg battlefields and White Oak Church. The reunion group included, J. Frank Lindsley; Henry B. Hoffman; his brother, Dr. Joseph R. Hoffman; Judge John B. Vreeland, a state senator from New Jersey; and Thomas B. Ironside. They aided in the repair of the church.[4]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Virginia Landmarks Register. Virginia Department of Historic Resources. June 5, 2013.
  2. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: White Oak Church. Eirik Harteis and John S. Salmon. July 1990. Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
  3. Web site: White Oak Church 'Seems to Have Belonged to some Former Age'. hmdb.org.
  4. News: Lee. Woolf. White Oak has link to Yankees. https://web.archive.org/web/20120406102544/http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2006/052006/05022006/186350. dead. April 6, 2012. The Free Lance-Star. May 2, 2006.