VA-O62 Winfree Memorial Baptist Church - Midlothian Mine Disaster

Marker text: WINFREE MEMORIAL BAPTIST CHURCH - MIDLOTHIAN MINE DISASTER

Winfree Memorial Baptist Church, constituted in 1852 as Jerusalem Baptist Church, originally stood to the west on Buckingham Pike. In September 1881, to better serve the coal mining community, the frame structure was rolled here on logs. On 3 Feb. 1882, a methane explosion killed 32 miners in the Midlothian Cola Mining Company's Grove Shaft nearby. David B. Winfree and other members of the congregation raised funds and provided assistance for the individuals who lost family members. The present brick church was dedicated in 1925, and the congregation was renamed in honor of pastors David B. Winfree and his son Robert H. Winfree.

Department of Historic Resources, 2002.