National Register of Historic Places

Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery

Wentworth, Rockingham County, North Carolina
Listed
March 13, 1986
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
86000391

About this property

Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church, South and Cemetery, also known as Wentworth United Methodist Church, is a historic Methodist church located at Wentworth, Rockingham County, North Carolina. The Wentworth Church was organized on October 1, 1836. The first church building was located on Main Street just west of the Rockingham County Courthouse. The present 1859 sanctuary, built on the western outskirts of the original historic village area, is the last surviving pre-Civil War Methodist edifice in Rockingham County. The sanctuary (an antebellum meetinghouse once common in American Methodism) has been restored and contains one of the two remaining slave galleries in a Rockingham County church (The second slave gallery is in the nearby Wentworth Presbyterian Church which was organized in 1859 and constructed its present sanctuary in 1860). In the church cemetery lie buried many prominent local residents, Confederate dead, and former slaves. Also buried there is the Rev. Dr. Numa F. Reid (1825–1873) one of the noted leaders of Southern Methodism in antebellum and postwar North Carolina. Reid's son, James Wesley Reid (1849–1902), a U.S. Congressman from 1884 to 1886, was an active member of this congregation. State senator John W. Stephens was a parishioner of the church. Robert Martin, Jr. the father-in-law of U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas of Illinois was an early trustee of this church. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 and a restoration of the antebellum sanctuary was begun in 1981. The church is located at 1308 NC 65 (Main Street) in Wentworth and on the western end of the original village area. The congregation, though small, is active with weekly Sunday worship services. It is part of the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Location

Wentworth, Rockingham County, North Carolina
36.40097, -79.77755

Categories

ARCHITECTURERELIGION
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Nearby Historic Sites

Wright Tavern
Early Republic
0.5 mi
Chinqua-Penn Plantation
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4.4 mi
Bullard-Ray House
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6.2 mi
Leaksville Commercial Historic District
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6.2 mi
King, Dr. Franklin, House-Idlewild
Industrial
6.3 mi

Nearby Battles

Skirmish at Wetzell's Mills
1781Revolutionary War
7.1 mi
Battle of Summerfield
1781Revolutionary War
14.7 mi

Questions about this property

When was Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery listed on the National Register?

Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1986.

What type of historic resource is Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery?

Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery?

The period of significance for Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Wentworth Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery?

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