Moyock in Currituck County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Joseph Pilmoor

Photographed By Kevin W., July 22, 2008

1. Joseph Pilmoor Marker

Inscription. Preached first Methodist sermon in colony, 1772, at Currituck Courthouse. Pilmoor Memorial Methodist Church is near the site. About 300 ft. north.

Erected 1998 by Division of Archives and History. (Marker Number A-59.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Churches & Religion • Colonial Era. In addition, it is included in the North Carolina Division of Archives and History series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1772.

Location. 36° 26.805′ N, 76° 0.852′ W. Marker is in Moyock, North Carolina, in Currituck County. Marker is at the intersection of Caratoke Highway (Route 168) and Courthouse Road (North Carolina Highway 1242) on Caratoke Highway. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Moyock NC 27958, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 8 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Currituck County Courthouse (approx. ¼ mile away); Currituck County Old Jail (approx. ¼ mile away); Hijacking Maple Leaf (approx. 2.4 miles away); Henry M. Shaw (approx. 5.3 miles away); Yeopim (approx. 6.2 miles away); McKnight’s Shipyard (approx. 6.3 miles away); Knotts Island (approx. 6.7 miles away); Indiantown (approx. 7½ miles away).

Regarding Joseph Pilmoor.

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The Currituck County Courthouse was the site on September 28, 1772, of the first Methodist sermon preached in North Carolina. The preacher was Joseph Pilmoor, sent to America in 1769 by John Wesley and the Methodist conference held in Leeds, England to spread the Gospel. Richard Boardman was authorized to preach in America by the same conference. Pilmoor landed near Philadelphia and headed southward, serving initially in Maryland. For his message at Currituck he chose a verse from the Gospel of Matthew: “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” (Matt. 3:11). That night he recorded in his diary that he dined with Colonel Hollowell Williams.

Two hundred yards south of the preaching point (the courthouse) stands Pilmoor Memorial Methodist Church completed in October 1928. Methodists in the county had worshipped in private homes and at Baxter Grove Methodist Church (est. 1860) three miles north of the village of Currituck up until that time. Methodists in Currituck also had worshipped at the former Asbury Methodist Church founded in 1846 two miles north of Coinjock. Construction of the new church came about largely through the beneficence of Albert M. Simmons, who donated $2000 for the purpose.

The first minister at Pilmoor and the inspiration for the building was the Reverend Charles T. Thrift. With a seating capacity of 200, it was

Photographed By Laura Troy, October 1, 2007

2. Joseph Pilmoor Marker

the first brick church built in Currituck County. The initial membership was sixty-four; it had doubled by 1933. The congregation purchased a bus that covered a sixteen-mile route every Sunday morning. At a dedication program in 1935 church members presented Bishop Paul B. Kern with a gavel made of willow grown on the site of Pilmoor’s sermon.

References:
W. L. Grissom, History of Methodism in North Carolina from 1772 to the Present Time (1905)
Margaret C. Pritchard, comp., History of Pilmoor Memorial Methodist Church, Currituck, N.C. (1965)
Christian Advocate, August 2, 1935
Trinity College Historical Papers, October 17, 1912
Church website: http://nccumc.org/pilmoor/

copied from the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resorces

Pilmoor Memorial Methodist Church image. Click for full size.

Photographed By Laura Troy, October 1, 2007

3. Pilmoor Memorial Methodist Church

Photographed By Laura Troy, October 1, 2007

4. Pilmoor Memorial Methodist Church

Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church South Erected 1928

Credits. This page was last revised on November 28, 2019. It was originally submitted on October 1, 2007, by Laura Troy of Burke, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,926 times since then and 64 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on July 23, 2008, by Kevin W. of Stafford, Virginia. 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 1, 2007, by Laura Troy of Burke, Virginia. • J. J. Prats was the editor who published this page.