Mount Zion Church Framed Print

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Photography and Textures make Fine Art
12/12/2012

Out and About: Mt. Zion Baptist Church's Civil War Past
A column about Civil War history and historic sites by Mike Conway

Zipping along Route 50 west toward the mountains, it is incredibly easy to miss Mt. Zion Church. It's tucked semi-hidden in the Southeast corner of the Watson Road roundabout, the first of several roundabouts you'll hit in the vicinity of Route 15. It's marked and easy enough to find if you're looking for it, but very easy to miss altogether if you're unaware of its significance.

The large, slightly menacing brick building, built to house a breakaway Baptist contingent eager to establish a church based on absolute Calvinist principles of predestination, according to the Mount Zion Church Preservation Association's website, first took in parishioners in 1851, serving a mixed congregation of black, white, slave and free. But for a few years during the Civil War...

Terry Rowe has a lifetime of experience in the arts. She is a creative exploring photography, graphic design, stitchery, jewelry making, and sculpting. One of the original founders of the Del Ray Artisans in Alexandria, Virginia, she has been actively involved in the arts for over twenty years. She recently retired, after 41 years of service, as the Art Director, House Creative Services, Office of the Chief Administrative Officer, U.S. House of Representatives. In her photographs, Terry seeks to capture a moment, to give the viewer a glimpse of place and time that arrests the movement of life and allows one to savor what is there to be seen. She has a camera in her hands every day, and her favorite sound is the sweet click of the shutter...