page_title: Old Pine Church
section_title: Church exterior
hierarchical_section_title: Old Pine Church / Architecture / Church exterior
caption_attribution_description: English: Old Pine Church is a mid-19th-century church along Old Pine Church Road (County Route 220/15), south of Purgitsville, West Virginia, United States. Photographed by Justin A. Wilcox of Washington, D.C. on July 2, 2016.
context_page_description: Old Pine Church, also historically known as Mill Church, Nicholas Church, and Pine Church, is a mid-19th century church located near to Purgitsville, West Virginia, United States. It is among the earliest extant log churches in Hampshire County, along with Capon Chapel and Mount Bethel Church.
  The church was constructed in 1838 to serve as a nondenominational "union church". As many of the Mill Creek valley's earliest settlers were of German descent, Old Pine Church may also have been built as a meeting place for Schwarzenau Brethren adherents, known as "Dunkers" or "Dunkards". The church is believed to have also been a meeting place for German Methodist settlers. By 1870, the church was primarily used by the Brethren denomination, and in 1878, the church's congregation split into White Pine Church of the Brethren and Old Pine Church congregations. Both congregations continued to use the church until 1907.
  Old Pine Church reportedly housed a school in the early 20th century while still serving as a center for worship. In 1968, residents of the Purgitsville community raised the necessary funds to perform a restoration of the church.
context_section_description: Old Pine Church is a large, one-story, gablefront log building. Its symmetrical front façade faces west and encompasses a main entrance consisting of a double set of four-paneled doors. The main entrance is reached by two concrete steps, on either side of which is a modern metal handrail. Above the entrance is a small wooden sign painted white reading "Old Pine Church" in black lettering. On either side of the doors are two nine-over-six double-hung sash wooden windows.
  Placed symmetrically in the north and south sides of the church are two nine-over-six double-hung sash wooden windows. Between the two windows on the church's north elevation is an exterior concrete block chimney. The layout of the east-facing rear elevation of the church is also symmetrical, and features three nine-over-six double-hung sash wooden windows, with the center window placed above and between the other two windows. The church's windows have been repaired using materials consistent with original construction.
  At the base of each of the church's four corners is a large uncut stone pier. Fieldstones span the church's perimeter foundations, which were added at a later date to discourage intrusion by animals. The original hewn log beams, still retaining bark, can be seen under the church. The church is covered with brown-painted wooden German siding and is crowned by a modern standing-seam metal roof.
  Architectural historian Sandra Scaffidi states that the simple form and construction of Old Pine Church are indicative of the early settlers' access to materials and are an example of the log construction techniques used in the religious architecture of Hampshire County's earliest settlers. She adds that Old Pine Church is representative of a "simple design and form common to the early ecclesiastical buildings" and an "excellent example of one of the area's early rural church complexes".
caption: Nine-over-six double-hung sash wooden window
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