Alexander Hill Baptist Church was built around 1870 during Reconstruction and served a rural African American community in Buckingham County into the 21st century. The presence of a preacher’s mound on the property suggests the site was used for religious purposes prior to the building’s construction and possibly even before emancipation by the enslaved men, women, and children living at Sycamore Island, a nearby plantation. Along with Alexander Hill School (no longer standing on the property), from the Reconstruction Era forward the church was a focal point for African Americans in the community. An important local example of vernacular log construction, the church was later enhanced, likely in the early-20th-century, with Greek Revival-style elements such as a pedimented gable, cupola, and interior trim work.
Many properties listed in the registers are private dwellings and are not open to the public, however many are visible from the public right-of-way. Please be respectful of owner privacy.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Programs
DHR has secured permanent legal protection for over 700 historic places - including 15,000 acres of battlefield lands
DHR has erected 2,532 highway markers in every county and city across Virginia
DHR has registered more than 3,317 individual resources and 613 historic districts
DHR has engaged over 450 students in 3 highway marker contests
DHR has stimulated more than $4.2 billion dollars in private investments related to historic tax credit incentives, revitalizing communities of all sizes throughout Virginia