{"nrhp_refnum":"69000234","name":"Little Fork Church","other_names":["Oak Shade Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Rtes. 624 and 726","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rixeyville","county":"Culpeper County","state":"VA","lat":38.59998946600007,"lon":-77.95465392399996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1969-11-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Little Fork Church is a one-story colonial brick church near Rixeyville in Culpeper County, Virginia, built in 1774-76 to replace an earlier wooden church destroyed by fire in 1773.","why_significant":"It is one of the few colonial churches to survive in northern Piedmont Virginia and retains a large share of its original interior, including an elaborate reredos. It is attributed to John Ariss, who is also credited with the nearly identical Lamb's Creek Church. It served as a chapel for St. Mark's Parish.","narrative":"Little Fork Church is a one-story brick chapel in rural Culpeper County, Virginia, raised between 1774 and 1776 after fire destroyed an earlier wooden building in 1773. It measures roughly 83 by 33 feet, with Flemish bond walls, rubbed brick corners and window arches, seven bays on the south wall with six arched windows, a modillion cornice and a hipped roof. Inside, the original reredos between the two east windows has four tablets, Doric pilasters and a triangular pediment. The church is believed to be the work of John Ariss, who is also credited with the nearly identical Lamb's Creek Church. It is one of few colonial churches left in northern Piedmont Virginia, and it served as a chapel of St. Mark's Parish rather than a parish church. Union troops stabled horses there during the Civil War, and Methodists later used it. The surroundings keep the rural character they had in the eighteenth century.","period_of_significance":"1774-76","architect_builder":"John Ariss (believed designer)","architectural_style":"Colonial","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as fair and altered; described as relatively neglected in 1969 and again serving as a chapel for St. Mark's Parish. A later grant application says it was being restored.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.464746-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/21/6803/41680321/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/69000234.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000234/1696f2e407-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/69000234/1696f2e407-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"David King","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_fork_south_facade.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">David King</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_fork_south_facade.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680321","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Fork_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6650077"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/culpeper-county/little-fork-church-69000234/"}