For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 12/01/2004
NRHP Listing Date 01/20/2005
NPS property number 04001542
Constructed by ex-slaves from the nearby Oatlands plantation as a meeting place for worship, for mutual aid societies, and the community, the Mount Olive Methodist Episcopal Church was dedicated in 1890. The church symbolizes the progress and pride of a group of African Americans who had gone from being slaves to being free people able to build their own church on their own land. It is a single-story, Late Gothic Revival-style frame building with a front gable roof, stone foundation, projecting front vestibule, and semi-hexagonal rear apse.
Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated April 4, 2018
