St. John's Episcopal Church (Richmond, Virginia)

The St. John 's Episcopal Church is a church building of the Episcopal Church of the United States of America in Richmond (Virginia) in the United States.

Historical Significance

The St. John 's Episcopal Church was built in 1741 and is the oldest church in Richmond. Because of its historical importance, especially in connection with the American War of Independence, was added to the National Register of Historic Places St. John's in 1961 as a National Historic Landmark. Since then it has one of the 119 historic sites in Virginia. Particularly well known it was on 23 March 1775 as the scene of the Give me Liberty, or give me Death! Speech by Patrick Henry. 1781, during the occupation of Richmond, took advantage of the later defector General Benedict Arnold the church building as quarters for his troops. The church and associated cemetery with graves of well-known personalities such as, among others, George Wythe (one of the founding fathers of the United States) or Eliza Poe (mother of writer Edgar Allan Poe ) are now a popular tourist destination with insights into the time of the American War of Independence.

Gallery

A grave stone in the cemetery of St. John's: Eliza Poe, mother of writer Edgar Allan Poe