1896-2024
For more than a century, this building was the home to a congregation of worshippers in Harpers Ferry known as St. John’s Episcopal Church.
The building here is actually the second home for the St. John’s congregation. Their first building was constructed in 1852 down in the lower town, the ruins of which you can see today just above St. Peter’s Catholic Church. That building was damaged during the Civil War, rebuilt in 1882, and then abandoned because so many of its members had moved up the hill.
This property was granted to the St. John’s congregation by the federal government in recompense for the war damage to their original building. The building was consecrated by the Diocese of West Virginia in 1899, by which time a rectory on Fillmore Street had also been constructed. The congregation was always small, and it was considered a mission church in Jefferson County.
Temple G. “Pop” Wheeler was the church’s longest serving minister. He was officially appointed St. John’s vicar in 1960, but he had already been conducting monthly communion services here for twenty years. He continued until his death in 1990.
Over the decades, many Harpers Ferry and Bolivar residents worshipped at this church and enthusiastically served the community. Sadly, with its small remaining congregation ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, the church was unable to recover. It finally turned the church property over to the diocese in fall 2023, and the property was sold to a private owner in early 2024.
The new owners are dedicated to keeping this historic building as a monument to the generations of virtuous men and women who made up the St. John’s congregation, people who sought to love God and to love their neighbors.
The Mission Hall in back of the building is beautifully decorated as a studio apartment and can be rented for vacation stays on Airbnb: https://airbnb.com/h/mission-hall-apartment