John Wesley United Methodist Church

History Stop

Look closely, and you can see the brick patchwork over a cannonball hole in the side of the church.

The John Wesley Methodist Church, one of the oldest brick churches in the state, was built in 1820 from brick burned on site. During the Civil War’s Battle of Lewisburg in 1862, the church was in the line of fire from both Union and Confederate forces. A cannonball hit the southwest wall and passed through the wall above the gallery where slaves sat during services.

“The oldest persons among the present membership have their grandparents’ assurance that the shot was no accident. They believe that the church was being used as part of the Confederate post,” says the church’s 1974 nomination form submitted to the National Register of Historic Places.

Researched and written by Belinda Anderson.