A Chapel of Their Own

A Chapel of Their Own. Orrick Chapel Stephens City, Virginia. Methodism came to the Stephens City area in the 1770s, and some of the new converts were African Americans, enslaved and free. At first they worshipped with whites in the Methodist Church on Main Street. In the 1827 brick building, they were seated in the "end gallery" of the sanctuary. By 1858, however, African Americans had a chapel of their own, at this site on Mulberry Street. During the Civil War, Union troops dismantled the building, using the wood for a winter camp. After the war, Winchester preacher Robert Orrick donated materials to rebuild the chapel, and the congregation called their new building Orrick Chapel to honor his contribution. In 1991 Orrick Chapel merged with the Stephens City United Methodist Church, and in 1993 the two churches trustees conveyed the property to the Stone House Foundation., This marker was created as a collaboration among Winchester-Frederick County Tourism, the Newtown History Center of the Stone House Foundation, and the Local Black History Task Force., (captions) , The building has been expanded and modernized over the years., Robert Orrick (ca. 1827-1902) began a hauling service in Winchester while still enslaved. In freedom, he built a prosperous livery business. He was also a Methodist preacher, and he occasionally preached in the pulpit here., Photos courtesy of the Newtown History Center of the Stone House Foundation and the Stewart Bell Jr. Archives of the Handley Regional Library and the Winchester-Frederick County Historical Society.