HALL’S CREEK UNITED METHODIST CHURCH

ELIZABETH CITY, N.C.

HISTORY

Written by Helen W. Shackelford & Andrew Floyd Smithson

Hall’s Creek United Methodist Church is a historic institution situated in a historic locale. The church is located in Pasquotank County, near the Perquimans County line; the two oldest counties in North Carolina, having been chartered during the pre-colonial period. The historic community of Nixonton, less than a mile from the church, embraces the Little River, down which Sir Walter Raleigh’s first colony explored. Still standing here is the state’s oldest customs house, whose Georgian paneling has been preserved in the North Carolina Room of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Nearby an eight foot granite monument marks the site of the first public school in the state (1705).

The small hill on which the church was build is in itself historic. It was here on February 6, 1665, that the Albemarle Assembly, the first lawmaking body of the Colony of Carolina met under an ancient spreading oak tree. A marker on the church grounds commemorates the event.

According to legends, the first congregation was organized about 1727 and may have been a Quaker (Society of Friends) meetinghouse. Despite the absence of documenting evidence this is quite probable since many Friends settled the area during the mid to late 1600’s. It was they who were instrumental in the establishment of the nearby school in 1705.

The first land for a Methodist-Episcopal meetinghouse was purchased October 11, 1819, by trustees William Davis, John Newby, Stephen Mullen, Miles Brothers, Nathan Bright, and John Foster. It began, “at a pine running nearly north to a post, thence southwest to a post, and from thence to the main road at Hall’s Creek Bridge, including all the land within these boundaries, containing one acre, more or less.” Early records refer to the church as being Mount Zion.

According to elderly church members, now deceased, this log building was erected in 1819, directly across the road from the present structure. This log church was destroyed by fire, and plans to rebuild across the road on the cemetery grounds were made. This site was formally acquired from Benjamin Jackson on March 15, 1827, by trustees Thomas L. Shannonhouse, Henry Hollowell, William Reed, Joshua Pool, Silbey Palmer, and Robert H. Barker. Attempts were made to situate the church so that it would not be build over any grace sites. However, it was discovered after construction was underway that there were indeed graves on the actual site.

Hall’s Creek Methodist-Episcopal Church was one of ten churches which comprise the Northeastern North Carolina-Virginia Circuit, with the parsonage being located in Hertford, in nearby Perquimans County.

The new church, completed in 1827 was built with two front entrance doors. Inside, the sanctuary was divided to separate the sexes. Floors were constructed of wide pine planks, and the altar and pews were hand-hewn. A slave gallery was also part of the sanctuary. Behind the high pulpit was a wooden sounding board to carry the minister’s voice. Tall multi-paned windows were of hand-blown glass.

Hall’s Creek served the community throughout the remainder of the nineteenth century and the first forty years of the twentieth century. The doors were then closed, but were reopened in 1943 largely due to the work and faith of its small congregation.

In 1953 the annex was built adding four new Sunday School rooms, and shortly thereafter, the slave gallery was renovated into classrooms. The following year a severe hurricane blew a large tree across the roof damaging the sanctuary. Again renovation was necessary; new floors, pews, pulpit and altar were installed. The two front doors were converted to windows and one door cut in the center with a small porch constructed over the entrance. The hand-blown glass windows were also replaced with stained glass. Only the hand-hewn altar was salvaged and it remains in storage. Today Hall’s Creek and her sister church, Mount Hermon form the Pasquotank Charge of the Elizabeth City district of the United Methodist Church.

Elizabeth City, N.C.

Written and published approx. 1973