Farnham Church in Richmond County has survived abandonment, wars, and fire. Dominating its tiny crossroads settlement, the church was built ca. 1737 to replace a mid-17th-century church. With a Latin cross plan, the church originally had a hipped roof. Its early parishioners included the Carters of Sabine Hall and the Tayloes of Mount Airy. It was left vacant after the disestablishment and was riddled with bullets in a skirmish during the War of 1812. Federal troops used it to stable horses during the Civil War and, although later restored to service, it was gutted by fire in 1888. It stood a roofless ruin until it was again restored in 1922. The Flemish-bond brick walls, enriched with glazed headers and rubbed-brick corners and jambs, are the only original features remaining. Their superior quality is a signal of the wealth and influence of the colonial-period parish.
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