National Register of Historic Places

Bear Mountain Indian Mission School

Amherst, Amherst County, Virginia
Listed
February 21, 1997
Type
Building
Period
Colonial
Ref No.
97000152

About this property

Bear Mountain Indian Mission School is a historic Native American missionary school in Amherst, Virginia. n 1868, [when] a parcel of land was donated for a meeting place for the Indian people. At the time, churches and schools were provided for whites and for blacks, but not for Indians. Originally, a wooden arbor served as the meeting place, and itinerant ministers began to hold Baptist and Methodist services there. Shortly thereafter, a log building was built, to be used for the meeting place. The new church served about 350 Indian people. This building later became the Indian mission school, which still stands at the foot of Bear Mountain. The school building was built in 1868, and is a single-story, one-room, horizontal log building. A frame addition was built in 1908. The "New School," dating to the 1930s, is a plain frame building sheathed in weatherboard. Associated with the school is St. Paul's Episcopal Church, a rectangular wood-frame building with Gothic style detailing. It was built in 1930, after the original mission church was destroyed by fire. A mission worker's house is also extant, a small "L"-plan wood frame dwelling. The buildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. Today, the log building houses the tribal museum.

Location

Amherst, Amherst County, Virginia
37.57292, -79.12704

Categories

NATIVE AMERICANEDUCATION
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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Native Heritage
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Settlement
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Nearby Historic Sites

Sweet Briar House
Industrial
2.7 mi
Sweet Briar College Historic District
Listed
2.8 mi
Dameron Cottage
Industrial
3.8 mi
Edgewood
Industrial
4 mi
Amherst Baptist Church
Industrial
4.4 mi

Nearby Battles

Hunter's Raid: Lexington to Lynchburg (Amherst County, 1864)
1864Civil War
4.1 mi
Lynchburg – Diamond Hill Skirmish
1864Civil War
10.3 mi
Lynchburg — Hunter's Failed Assault (June 17-18, 1864)
1864Civil War
11 mi
Battle of Lynchburg
1864Civil War
11 mi

Questions about this property

When was Bear Mountain Indian Mission School listed on the National Register?

Bear Mountain Indian Mission School was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on February 21, 1997.

What type of historic resource is Bear Mountain Indian Mission School?

Bear Mountain Indian Mission School is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Bear Mountain Indian Mission School?

The period of significance for Bear Mountain Indian Mission School is recorded as the colonial era.

Can I research the history near Bear Mountain Indian Mission School?

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