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Rehoboth Church
US 64, Skinnersville,
NC,
USA
Latitude & Longitude:
35° 54' 11.8188",
-76° 29' 44.9916"
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North Carolina State
Historical Marker |
Marker Text: "Colonial Anglican congregation known as Skinners Chapel. Present church constructed 1850-1853. Now United Methodist." Ranked among North Carolina’s finest examples of simple Greek Revival church architecture, Rehoboth Church was constructed between 1850 and 1853 for the benefit of an established local congregation. The Norman family is credited with the founding and construction of the church between 1850 and 1853.
The earliest members of what would become Rehoboth began to worship around 1735 in an area called Skinnersville. The chapel at Skinnersville was used from 1735 until 1805, serving the community as the only place of worship in the area. Services were held twice a month under the direction of the Reverend Charles Pettigrew, North Carolina’s first bishop-elect of the Episcopal Church, from the 1770’s until 1803. At the urging of Pettigrew, the congregation planned construction of a new chapel and in 1805 a new building, Swain’s Chapel, was constructed nearby. These two earliest chapels in the area were not clearly associated with a single denomination but in 1828 Swain’s was dedicated to the Methodist Protestant Church and served its congregation until the 1840s when it was deemed unusable and dilapidated. Rehoboth Church was constructed to replace Swain’s Chapel and was affiliated with the Methodist Protestant Church until 1939 when it became part of the Methodist Church.
J.S. Norman, a member of the congregation, deeded the church trustees the land on which Rehoboth sits in 1850. Construction of the new chapel was completed by slaves belonging to Norman and his brother by 1853. Still an active church, services have been held in the church since its construction although modern services are limited to special occasions.
References:
Betsy Modlin, ed., Washington County, North Carolina: A Tapestry (1998)
Catherine Bishir and Michael Southern, A Guide to the Historic Architecture of Eastern North Carolina (1996)
Bennett Wall, “Charles Pettigrew, First Bishop-Elect of the North Carolina Episcopal Church,” North Carolina Historical Review (January 1951): 15-46
National Register of Historic Places, online listings: http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/NC/Washington/state.html
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Rehoboth Church Historical Marker Location Map, Skinnersville, North Carolina
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