Kenbridge in Lunenburg County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
St. Luke's Episcopal Church
St. Luke's Episcopal Church, built in 1926, emerged from a Reconstruction-era mission school and chapel for African Americans known as Trinity. Mary McFarland Jennings, born into slavery nearby ca. 1823 and sent to the North by her white father, had returned to Lunenburg Co. and established Trinity in the 1870s in the now-vanished community of McFarland's. Her successors moved the mission to Kenbridge and bought land here in 1921 for a new church to be called St. Luke's. Among its trustees was the Rev. James Solomon Russell, prominent Episcopal priest and educator. The church served as a temporary classroom when local segregated schools were overcrowded in 1961. Episcopal services ceased in 2021.
Erected 2022 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number SN-42.)
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Education • Religion & Religious Structures • Women. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1926.
Location. 36° 57.972′ N, 78° 7.305′ W. Marker is
this page online
Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Piedmont, in Southside Virginia, and specifically in Central Virginia. It is also in the American South and specifically in the Upper South. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 6 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Kennedy's Store ca. 1908 (approx. Ό mile away); Town of Kenbridge (approx. half a mile away); Craig's Mill (approx. half a mile away); St. Johns Church (approx. 0.7 miles away); The Glebe of Cumberland Parish (approx. 2.6 miles away); Lunenburg County / Nottoway County
Other markers no longer nearby. Craig's Mill (was approx. half a mile away but has been replaced with another marker now near it); a different marker also named Lunenburg County / Nottoway County (was approx. 4.2 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).
Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), September 6, 2026
3. Dedication plaque on the church
This church is not only a place where the saving past is remembered, But also one where grace is even now experienced
Ephesians 2:21-22
Dedicated November 9, 2024
by
The Diocese of Southern Virginia
Credits. This page was last revised on September 7, 2026. It was originally submitted on September 7, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 5 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on September 7, 2026, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia.
