An endearingly simple house of worship, Oakland Grove Presbyterian Church is the oldest-known church building in Alleghany County and is regarded as one of the county’s chief historic landmarks. The congregation began in 1847 as a mission of the Covington Presbyterian Church. The construction of the brick church building that same year coincided with a religious reawakening among area Presbyterians, when six churches in the Montgomery Presbytery enjoyed “a few seasons of refreshing.” The church was converted to a Confederate hospital in the Civil War and a number of soldiers are buried in its cemetery. Oakland Grove is the mother church of several area Presbyterian churches but is now used only for special services. At the end of the 20th century the Oakland Grove Presbyterian Church building had not been modernized; its original pews, gallery, and furnishings were intact, and it was still illuminated by kerosene lamps.