Presbyterian Church of Fredericksburg

In Hartwood, at the junction of two county roads, stands a brick church built between 1857 and 1859 in the Greek Revival style. Rectangular, plain, built to last. During the Civil War it was used by both sides — in November 1862, Wade Hampton captured 137 men of the 3rd Pennsylvania Cavalry here. The church was damaged in the fighting and restored in 1866.

This was the only Presbyterian church in Stafford County from about 1807 until 1983, which means generations of farmers and merchants passed through these doors for baptisms, weddings, funerals. The property includes a graveyard and the site of an earlier chapel from around 1767, sometimes called the Yellow Chapel. The continuity is the point — what it meant to have one church serving the whole county for 176 years.

You go to see what Greek Revival looked like when it was built for use, not display. This one survived the war that destroyed much of the county, was restored in 1866, and kept holding services. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.