Historic Church Is Reborn After Two-Year Renovation

1851 Building Can Be Rented

By Kafia A. Hosh

Monday, June 1, 2009

Since it opened in 1851, Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church has served not only as a place of worship, but also as a Civil War-era hospital, prison and even battleground.

The brick church in Aldie, which stopped holding services in 1980 and became a public historic site, was to reopen yesterday after a two-year, $788,000 restoration project. Loudoun County has owned the property for the past decade, and county officials are hoping that Mount Zion will be rented out for less tumultuous events, such as birthday parties, weddings and business meetings. The public will have free access to the building on weekends if no functions are taking place.

Tucked along Route 50, Mount Zion has managed to escape the effects of Loudoun's rapid growth.

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Mount Zion Old School Baptist Church Reopens

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The newly restored Mt. Zion Church in Aldie, will be open to the public this Saturday, May 30. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Lououn County officials are do a walk-through to assess contractors restoration work on the historic Mount Zion Church in Aldie. Going through a crawlspace inside is Bob Alvaro, of Restorations Unlimited, who is going under the church to work on heating and air conditioning equipment. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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The newly restored Mount Zion Baptist Church gets an all new electric panel and wiring. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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The newly restored Mt. Zion Church will open to the public on May 30. Loudoun County officials were going through the property with a final punch-out list for the restoration contractors. The church has all new electrical panels, plus heating and air conditioning. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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Freshly painted shutters go back onto their windows at Mount Zion Church. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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This sign from Loudoun County Parks and Recreation and Community Services, welcomes you to the newly restored Mount Zion Church in Aldie. (Tracy A. Woodward)

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"It's a pristine site from 1851, and to be able to preserve something this old, with all of the development around us, is very satisfying to our group," said Harriett M. Condon, president of the Mount Zion Church Preservation Association, which donated the property to the county in 1998. The association owns 88 acres across the street, she said, which will preserve the pastoral view from inside the church.

x Mount Zion is on the National Register of Historical Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register. In June 2007, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources approved the county's plans to restore the church to the way it appeared between 1851 and 1866. Construction began a year later to refurbish the exterior and interior. The project was funded primarily through private donations and state grants.

"We tried to make sure that as much of the original church [as possible] was either maintained or replicated," said Stephen R. Torpy, assistant director of the Loudoun Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services.

Initial work focused on stabilizing the church's west wall, which had buckled under a weak foundation. Workers rebuilt the foundation and repaired the portions of the wall affected by the buckling.

The church has its original pews, wood columns and hardwood floors. Its pulpit was replastered and painted, and the ceiling was demolished. Other work included the installation of a heating and cooling system, new windows and repaired shutters.

Although the church's walls have a fresh coat of white paint, four sections were left untouched because they were scribbled with the signatures of Union troops. Those yellowed sections are encased and preserved in a plastic frame.

The troops "marked that they were here," Condon said. Preserving the signatures might help a historian or any researcher identify the soldiers, she said.

Mount Zion was founded by former members of Little River Baptist Church. The church's 400 parishioners included black freedmen and slaves.

In July 1864, Mount Zion was the scene of a battle between Union and Confederate troops. Federal patrols had been scouring the county in search of Confederate Col. John S. Mosby. One night, the patrols stopped at Mount Zion to fix dinner. Mosby advanced down the turnpike when he encountered the Union troops, and a battle ensued. The fight resulted in at least 105 Union soldiers killed, wounded or captured and one Confederate soldier killed and six others wounded.

Union troops lived at Mount Zion and used it as a hospital and a burial place for fallen soldiers.

After the war, regular services resumed at the church until 1980, when it was purchased by the preservation association, which has used it for historical reenactments.

"It is still here, without being demolished all of these years. It's a piece of Virginia history," Condon said.

Tagged: Aldie, construction, Mount Zion Old School Baptist

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