West Union Presbyterian Church
a.k.a. West Union United Presbyterian Church
108 S. 2nd St., West Union, OHThe West Union United Presbyterian Church is one of the oldest church buildings in Ohio. This church was built in 1810 and is one of the last original buildings of West Union (1803) still standing. Thomas Metcalf, known as "Old Stonehammer", was the stonemason and built the structure for $250, one half paid in cash and the other half in trade Items which included cattle, wheat and a six-dollar hat. Metcalf later moved to Kentucky and became governor of that state. One of those who contributed to the church building fund was Adams County's treasurer, General David Bradford, a tavern keeper of West Union. Bradford, a self-proclaimed Major General, was one of the main instigators of the Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania during 1794-95. Thomas Kirker, an Adams Countlan who was Ohio's second governor in 1807-08, instituted the move to build the church. Because of this link between an Ohio governor and a Kentucky governor (Metcalf), the church is known today as "The Church of the Governors". The stone used to construct the church was quarried about 500 feet away. This quarry is still visible today beside State Route 247. The famous radical abolitionist preacher, John Rankin, preached at least one sermon in this old church, that being an installation service during April of 1830. During the Civil War, soldiers of the 70th Chio Volunteer Infantry were temporarily quartered in the church. Wood veneer today covers the graffiti carved on the church's roof support columns by these soldiers. Alexander Woodrow, a West Union cabinet maker, was an elder in this church during the post-Civil War years. Woodrow had a nephew named after him in Staunton, Virginia. That nephew was Thomas Woodrow W11.son, twenty-eighth president of the United States.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.