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Rehobeth Presbyterian Church

1706 establishments in Maryland18th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United StatesChurches completed in 1706Churches in Somerset County, MarylandChurches on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland
Maryland church stubsNational Register of Historic Places in Somerset County, MarylandPresbyterian churches in MarylandScotch-Irish American culture in MarylandSomerset County, Maryland Registered Historic Place stubs
Historic presbyterian church in what is now rehobeth maryland
Historic presbyterian church in what is now rehobeth maryland

Rehoboth Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church located at Westover, Maryland in Somerset County near the Pocomoke River and Chesapeake Bay. Founded by Francis Makemie in 1683, the Rehoboth Church is the oldest continuously Presbyterian church in America. The second and current church structure was built by Makemie on his own land at personal expense in 1706. The building received extensive interior modifications and rearrangement of some windows and doors in 1888, and further renovations were completed in 1956. William Stevens, an influential Somerset County citizen and member of the established Church of England (attending at the nearby Coventry Parish Ruins) issued a call to the Reverend Francis Makemie (1658–1708), an Ulster Scots clergyman who arrived in the colony and became known as the "Father of American Presbyterianism."The old church is a simple one-story Flemish bond brick building, three bays wide by three deep, constructed about 1706. It was remodeled in 1888, and the original clear glass windows were replaced with the present leaded ones. The interior features a barrel-vault wooden ceiling, box pews with single raised panel on the ends, and a paneled gallery. A cemetery surrounds it, and several other buildings in complementary styles were erected nearby. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Rehobeth Presbyterian Church (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Rehobeth Presbyterian Church
Coventry Parish Road,

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Latitude Longitude
N 38.039166666667 ° E -75.664722222222 °
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Address

Rehoboth Presbyterian Church Cemetery

Coventry Parish Road
21871
Maryland, United States
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Historic presbyterian church in what is now rehobeth maryland
Historic presbyterian church in what is now rehobeth maryland
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Coventry Parish Ruins
Coventry Parish Ruins

Coventry Parish Ruins are the remnants of a historic Episcopal church located at Rehobeth, Somerset County, Maryland. Coventry Parish was one of the original 30 Anglican parishes in the Province of Maryland established when Maryland's legislators established the Church of England as the colony's government-supported religion in 1692. These old parishes often had a church and several chapels of ease near population centers. This building, stands surrounded by farm fields and a historic Presbyterian Church near the Pocomoke River in what was then called Rehoboth but is now Rehobeth, Maryland to distinguish it from a beachfront community in Delaware. Coventry Parish's vestry erected a two-story seven-by-three-bay Flemish bond brick church between 1785 and 1788, one of the most difficult times for the denomination in Maryland, since it reorganized as the Episcopal Church as well as was disestablished (lost state support). At the time of its construction, the 76 foot by 56 foot structure was the largest Episcopal church on Maryland's Eastern Shore, only slightly smaller than Hungars Church further down the Delmarva Peninsula in Northampton County, Virginia. It was partially built using bricks from an older church nearby, which was dismantled. The church remained in use until the late 19th century, when the few remaining parishioners decided to combine with what had been the chapel of ease, St. Paul's at Marion, Maryland (where Maryland route 667, on which this stands connects to U.S. Route 13 down the Delmarva Peninsula, as well as Maryland Route 413). The ruined edifice was stabilized in 1928 and again in 2005. The ruin has been reduced to three primary walls, since the south wall rises only a foot above ground level, except for one single-story pier, and was once known for its 10 arches.It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.