Old Saint John’s Baptist Church and Cemetery: Revisiting a Community’s Legacy of Faith
A Presentation Honoring Local Black History on Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at 1PM (Doors open at 12:30PM)
Lancaster Community Library, 16 Town Centre Drive, Kilmarnock
Free Admission
More Info and Virtual Viewing Options: Contact Lancaster Virginia Historical Society
LancasterVaHistory.org 804-462-7280
Members of the Old Saint John’s Baptist Church Cemetery Project Committee (co-chaired by Pastor Tyron Williams of Mount Olive Baptist and Francine Aytes Hunter) and other local church and community leaders will reflect on the history, significance, and families of Lancaster County’s first independent Black congregation, organized in 1868 in Kilmarnock, and discuss recent efforts to research and restore the cemetery. At its height, Old Saint John’s church grew to nearly 1,000 members, serving as a spiritual and cultural anchor for free-born and newly-emancipated Black families. By 1892 the congregation had dissolved, but the cemetery continued for generations, stewarded by daughter churches Calvary, Mount Vernon, New Saint John’s, and Sharon Baptist.
