Downtown in Hampton, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

Third Church at Kecoughtan

Notable Burials in the Churchyard

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, July 31, 2010

1. Third Church at Kecoughtan Marker

Inscription. You are standing within the foundations of the third church at Kecoughtan (present-day Hampton). The first church (1616–1624) was located 1.5 miles south of here and the second one was constructed across the Hampton River about two miles east. It was abandoned and replaced with this building after the hurricane of 1667. This church measured fifty by twenty-seven feet, was of wood-frame construction, and had glass windows. This site was less subject to storms and floods than the second one and was convenient to the main roads in Elizabeth City County.

By 1691, about eight hundred persons lived in the county. They paid their church tax and the minister’s salary in tobacco, the cash crop and medium of exchange. The county court usually fined those who failed to attend church fifty pounds of tobacco.

Among the eight persons having gravestones here in the churchyard, two were parish ministers: James Wallace and Andrew Thompson. Others include Thomas Curle, a justice on the Elizabeth City County court, Admiral John Neville of the British Navy, who died at sea, and Peter Heyman, who was killed by pirates.

During

Paid Advertisement

Click or scan to see
this page online

the sixty years (1667–1727) that the church was located here, Hampton developed as a port notable for shipping and shipbuilding. As the town grew, so did the desire of residents to relocate the church to a more convenient site near Hampton. In 1728, the fourth parish church—St. John’s Episcopal Church—was completed. It stands today a mile east, the earliest surviving building in Hampton, and continues to serve the oldest active Anglican parish in America.

(sidebar)
Epitaph of Peter Heyman

This stone was given by his
Excellency Francis Nicholson
Esq Lieutenant and Governor
Of Virginia; in memory of Peter
Heyman Esq grandson to Sir
Peter Heyman of Sumerfield in
ye County of Kent. He was
Collector of ye Customs in the
Lower District of James River
and went voluntarily aboard
ye king’s shipp Shoreham in
pursuit of a pyrate who greatly
infested this coast after he had
behaved himself seven hours
with undaunted courage was
killed with small shot ye
29th day of April, 1700 in
Ye engagement he stood next ye
Govenour upon the quarter
deck and was here honorably
interred by his order.

Bringing History

Third Church at Kecoughtan Foundation image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Bernard Fisher, July 31, 2010

2. Third Church at Kecoughtan Foundation

to Life
For more visitor information visit: www.VisitHampton.com
In partnership with Virginia Civil War trails, www.civilwartrails.org

Erected by Bringing History to Life.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Cemeteries & Burial Sites • Colonial Era • Religion & Religious Structures • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical month for this entry is April 1700.

Location. 37° 1.72′ N, 76° 21.631′ W. Marker is in Hampton, Virginia. It is in Downtown. It can be reached from the intersection of West Pembroke Avenue and Patterson Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Hampton VA 23669, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is on Virginia’s Peninsula

and in Coastal Virginia.

It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in the Tidewater,

and on the Eastern Seaboard. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

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

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, August 9, 2025

3. Third Church at Kecoughtan Marker

Marker has deteriorated from sun exposure but is still legible in 2025.

Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Third Elizabeth City Parish Church (within shouting distance of this marker); Black Business (approx. 0.6 miles away); Grand Contraband Camp (approx. 0.6 miles away); Electric Avenue (approx. 0.7 miles away); Historic St. John's Episcopal Church (approx. 0.7 miles away); Hannah Nicholson Tunnell (approx. ¾ mile away); John Mallory Phillips (approx. ¾ mile away); St. John's Church (approx. ¾ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hampton.

More about this marker. On the left is a map of "Hampton, with the church sites" – Courtesy City of Hampton

On the center is a sketch of "Eighteenth-century shipping" – Courtesy Hampton History Museum

Also see . . .
1. Brief History of St. John's Episcopal Church. (Submitted on August 2, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.)
2. Hampton, Virginia. (Submitted on August 2, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia.)

Church Foundation Tablet image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, August 9, 2025

4. Church Foundation Tablet

Tablet placed on the brick outline over the church's subterranean foundation.

Vice Admiral Nevill's Gravestone image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Evan Dwyer, August 9, 2025

5. Vice Admiral Nevill's Gravestone

Credits. This page was last revised on September 3, 2025. It was originally submitted on August 2, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,498 times since then and 30 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on August 2, 2010, by Bernard Fisher of Richmond, Virginia. 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 2, 2025, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia.