A Peek into Summers County’s Past: Pence Springs Community Church

PENCE SPRINGS W.Va. (WVDN) – Editor’s Note: Every week, local history collector William Jones discusses items from his collection and their historical significance. In this week’s edition of A Peek into Summers County’s Past, Jones is tackling the topic of the Pence Springs Community Church.

The black and white photo is the earliest photo I have ever seen of the Pence Springs Community Church in Pence Springs, West Virginia. The church was constructed in 1921 and was initially intended for the Presbyterian denomination.

The congregation, in its early days, decided it wanted to be independent from a denomination and broke away to form a “community church.” I have been a member of this church my entire life. It is non-denominational, but it is centered around the Baptist ideology.

Alvin Garten, my good friend and local history buddy who was a member of this church, had told me many historical facts at one of our “history retreats,” that centered around us drinking coffee in his yard on summer evenings and various stories about this church before he passed away in 2013. One of which was when the original Presbyterian congregation was constructing the building, they had a large wood cook stove in the basement and would hold dinners for the community to raise funds for its completion. 

He could remember his parents telling the men of the church they had to tear the stove apart so it could be carried up the small stairs out of the basement. In those days, the only way into the basement was the tiny staircase at the back door. The stove was sat down in what would be the basement before the church building itself was constructed. His nephew, Dale Hedrick, was recently telling me that his mother, Lornie Cales, told him that when they decided to break away and become private, every member of the church wrote to the Presbyterian Corporation and gave them one cent for each year they were old. 

Back to the photo, this was a special Sunday service that was held for the school in The Pence Springs Hotel after it closed, as many businesses did at that time due to the depression. It was a preparatory reform school for young women. Eleanor Roosevelt, whose husband was President Roosevelt, was involved in this school. It came about during President Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” which was designed to improve the economy and help people harmed due to hardships faced during The Great Depression, especially in rural communities such as Pence Springs, West Virginia.

The commemorative plate pictured is one that was produced for the church in 1958. It reads, “Pence Springs Community Church Pence Springs, West Virginia 1921 – 1958.” At the time, it would have been 37 years old, which may seem like an odd year to produce a commemorative plate.

My guess is there was a company that produced these plates for local churches back in the day, which is why they did not commemorate a specific year. I have seen these plates for many local churches: Trinity United Methodist Church in Talcott, Tempa Baptist Church in Tampa, West Virginia, Greenbrier Baptist Church in Alderson, and so on.

Just as the commemorative throws made in the local towns around 20 years ago. One for Talcott, Pence Springs, Alderson, etc. After further examination of the plates, they were all produced by the Preston-Hopkinson Co. So, just as I had first thought, there was one company that made these commemorative plates for the churches in the area. This explains why they were made for odd years, like the one for Pence Springs at 37.

Lastly, there is a small fenced cemetery to the left of the church. This is for the Pence family. Andrew Pence, for whom the town was named to honor the Pence Springs Hotel, is buried in it. Many of his immediate family are buried there also. An architect was staying at The Pence Springs Hotel as a guest in the 1920s. He was selected to design the new church in Pence Springs.

This is the end of another edition of A Peek into Summers County’s Past. Did you know the history of the Pence Springs Community Church?

If you have a tale from the area’s past to share, send an email to news@hintonnews.com