pedantic nuthatch

Updated: 8/16/15; 18:59:25

Life in a Northern Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. B.M.A.T.C., and Etruscan typewriter erasers. Blogged by David Gorsline.

Monday, 8 May 2006

Did Jack Hitt see an Ivory-Billed Woodpecker?

posted: 8:03:42 PM

The historical society for Fairfax County very recently installed a historical marker at the site of Cartersville Baptist Church, which I pass on my way to the Toll Road if I'm driving into the city. I'd never known anything about the history behind this modest country church with 19th-century roots until I stopped to check out the marker. Today, of course, the church is encroached upon by office parks on the west side of Hunter Mill Road and housing subdivisions to the south and east. (Sources indicate that much of the church's graveyard is covered by its own small parking lot.) There seems to be no other trace of the settlement that was known as Cartersville.

County Supervisor Cathy Hudgins adds to the story.

The historical marker reads:

According to tradition, free African-Americans established a religious congregation, which met in private homes, in this area as early as 1863. Rose Carter, a member of the community, donated land for a church in 1903. The church served the residents of Cartersville and the nearby enclave of Woodentown. The building also served as a school after 1927. The original church stood until 1951 when it was rebuilt. After a fire in 1972 the church was rebuilt again and rededicated in 1979. The church still serves as a place of worship for many descendants of the original congregation who are buried here.

posted: 7:18:01 PM

D. Gorsline, Proprietor

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