{"nrhp_refnum":"77001538","name":"Old Stone Church","other_names":["Presbyterian Meeting House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"304 E. Piccadilly St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winchester (Independent City)","county":"Winchester","state":"VA","lat":39.185286348000034,"lon":-78.16024432199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-08-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story limestone Presbyterian meeting house at 304 East Piccadilly Street in Winchester, Virginia, under construction in 1788 and built by James Holliday with subscribers William Holliday and Robert Sherrard.","why_significant":"It is an early example of Shenandoah Valley ecclesiastical architecture, typical of the austere stone meeting houses built by Presbyterian settlers. Its changes in use reflect the history of an active, war-torn city. A careful restoration returned it close to its original state. The Synod of Virginia met there repeatedly, the Winchester Presbytery was organized there in 1794, and the first Sunday School south of Pennsylvania was established there in 1815.","narrative":"Begun in 1788, Winchester's Old Stone Church is a 54-by-36-foot limestone meeting house built for Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who had come to the Shenandoah Valley from Pennsylvania. Its five-bay south front faces Piccadilly Street, and it has a barrel-vaulted ceiling, balconies and a high pulpit. The congregation hosted the Synod of Virginia several times between 1790 and 1834, and the Winchester Presbytery was organized there in 1794. In 1815 it housed the first Sunday School south of Pennsylvania. The building later served Baptist congregations, then a school for Black students from 1875, and in 1929 an armory. Civil War shell fire damaged the east wall. Restoration began in 1941 under Philadelphia architect R. Brognard Okie and finished in 1950. General Daniel Morgan was buried in the adjoining cemetery in 1802. The church is listed as an early Valley religious building whose changes reflect the town's history.","period_of_significance":"1700-1799","architect_builder":"James Holliday (builder/architect); subscribers William Holliday and Robert Sherrard; restoration guided by R. Brognard Okie","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Restored 1941-1950; described as in excellent condition and currently used as a church.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.788091-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/54/6841/41684154/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/77001538.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001538/41a5cc3fc4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001538/41a5cc3fc4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Hammon27","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StoneChurch.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Hammon27</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StoneChurch.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41684154","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Stone_Church_(Winchester,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7085108"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/winchester/old-stone-church-77001538/"}