{"id":121879,"date":"2022-08-14T11:52:17","date_gmt":"2022-08-14T16:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=121879"},"modified":"2022-08-14T22:33:30","modified_gmt":"2022-08-15T03:33:30","slug":"huge-fire-destroys-historic-college-hill-presbyterian-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/huge-fire-destroys-historic-college-hill-presbyterian-church\/","title":{"rendered":"Huge Fire Destroys Historic College Hill Presbyterian Church"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sanctuary was engulfed in flames around 10:30 pm on Saturday, August 13, 2022<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

College Hill Presbyterian Church<\/strong>, one of the most historic buildings in all of North Mississippi<\/strong>, was destroyed by fire on Saturday, August 13, 2022.\u00a0 Located less than five miles from the Oxford Square<\/strong>, in the community of College Hill<\/strong>, the sanctuary is the oldest church building of any\u00a0denomination\u00a0in the Oxford area and the oldest Presbyterian <\/strong>church in North Mississippi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fire started around 10:30 pm and the Lafayette County Fire Department<\/strong> responded to the blaze with assistance from the Oxford Fire Department<\/strong>. The Lafayette County Sheriff\u2019s Department<\/strong> issued an official first responder traffic advisory at 11:30 pm for College Hill Road<\/strong> and County Road 103<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Local residents say the fire is a complete loss of the sanctuary. The cemetery and fellowship hall were not destroyed in the fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

College Hill Presbyterian Church was organized on January 11, 1835, in the home of Alexander Shaw<\/strong>, one of the early Scot-Irish<\/strong> settlers in the area. Originally the church was named Neriah Church<\/strong>, but shortly thereafter it was re-designated Ebenezer Church<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1836 members migrated to this area, and on January 11, 1841, the church was renamed College Presbyterian Church in recognition of the founding of the North Mississippi College<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1842 the congregation paid $400 for 23 acres on which to construct a public place of worship. The sanctuary was built in 1844 under the direction of Francis Timmons. <\/strong>Constructed of bricks fired on the site, the building was completed in 1846 at a total cost of $2,809.75. The pulpit, the pews, and the pew gates are the original furnishings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the Civil War<\/strong>, the Union<\/strong> army camped around the church and College Hill area in November and December of 1862. The troops were under the direction of General William Tecumseh Sherman<\/strong>, who used the sanctuary as his headquarters. The church cemetery contains a number of unmarked Union soldiers\u2019 graves, along with slave burial sites, and many Confederate <\/strong>soldiers\u2019 burial sites as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobel Prize<\/strong> winning author William Faulkner<\/strong> married Estelle Oldham<\/strong> in the church on June 20, 1929.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Session\u2019s original Minutes, dating back to the 1835 organizational meeting, are safeguarded in a local bank. Local residents report that the church\u2019s generations old Bible on display in the pulpit was saved from the fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cause of the blaze is under investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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