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Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery

Prince William County, US

Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery

Mount Pleasant Baptist Church and Cemetery is a historic Baptist church and cemetery located in Gainesville, Prince William County, Virginia along U.S. Route 29. It is located on the site of a former community of black slaves emancipated after the American Civil War historically known as The Settlem

ent and hosts a congregation tracing back to the 1870s. Built in 1929, the current building replaces three other church buildings that had existed in the community. Since 2010, the congregation has been led by George Carlisle. In 2012, Mount Pleasant Baptist Church would be subject to an arson attack, which left significant damage in latter additions to the building. The perpetrator of the attack, white nationalist hate group Wolves of Vinland member Maurice Thomson Michaely, would plea guilty to charges related to the attack and served two and a half years in jail and was ordered to pay restitution. The church has been closed and under repair since, with the nearby Northern Virginia Baptist Center temporarily hosting the congregation. The site of the church and cemetery was added to the Virginia Landmarks Register in 2020 and the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

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