A new Virginia state historical highway marker in honor of Antioch Baptist Church in Saluda was unveiled in front of the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse on Saturday, Aug. 3. Unveiling ceremony participants include, from left, the Rev. Fred D. Holmes Jr., current Antioch pastor; Bessida Cauthorne White, chairman of the Marker Dedication Planning Committee and board member of Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society (MCMHS); Marilyn South, president of MCMHS; Joell Gilbert, great-great-great-granddaughter of the Rev. William Thornton, first minister of Antioch; Joan Gilbert, great-great-granddaughter of Thornton; Dorothy Carter, co-chairman of Antioch’s deacon board; LaToya Gray-Sparks, DHR’s community outreach coordinator; the Rev. Dr. Leonard L. Edloe, founding pastor of New Hope Fellowship Church in Hartfield; Hallie J. Holmes, member of the Marker Dedication Planning Committee; and Reynold Trotman, chairman of Antioch’s Trustee Board. (Photo by Larry Chowning)
Antioch Baptist Church and the Middlesex County Historic Courthouse served as the backdrop for the special historical highway marker dedication event on Saturday, Aug. 3.
The newly unveiled marker, which is on the grounds of the old courthouse, notes the important role Antioch played in Middlesex County’s history.
Antioch was one of four founding churches of the Southside Rappahannock Baptist Association and hosted the association’s first meeting in 1877. The Antioch School, an early public school for Black children, was located next to the church and the building still stands today.
