Church celebrates milestone
MARTINSBURG, W. VA. ? Mount Wesley UMC, a church perched high on a hill west of Scrabble, W. Va., celebrated its 175th anniversary Oct. 8. As part of the homecoming morning worship, the 50-member congregation sang a medley of old hymns, put together by member Kenny Herbaugh.
The Rev. Randolph Reid led a service in the afternoon and dedicated a parcel of land donated to the church by the Staley family, whose father and grandfather had given the property on which the church is built. It will be used as a recreation area, according to Barbara Kindig, the church?s communicator.
During the Civil War, both the northern and southern armies used the new brick church for a field hospital and the church cemetery contains many Civil War dead in unmarked graves.
The town of Scrabble was hard-hit by the flu epidemic of 1918, but the church suffered even more disaster. A tornado struck Aug. 26, 1918, and completely destroyed the brick church. In 1920, the community celebrated the new building, which still stands, built in the shape of a cross.
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