A historic African-American church still hopes to rebuild after an arson in 2012.
Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, located at 15008 Lee Highway in Gainesville was the scene of arson in 2012. Parishioners watched helplessly as the church was nearly reduced to ashes.
Maurice Michaely, of Haymarket, received a two and a half year prison sentence for the crime.
Today, the church is slowly but surely making its way back to life.
Founded in 1877, the church had been the centerpiece of a settlement established in Gainesville by former slaves after emancipation. On August 10, 2012, as a result of arson.
Recently, during an online meeting of the Prince William Conservation Alliance to Save Carver Road, Deacon Henry Peterson gave an update on the church’s efforts to raise money to rebuild Mount Pleasant. The church plans to rebuild in seven phases for which they’ve already raised over $60,000.
Peterson also said that an additional $1 million needs to be raised in order to complete all phases of construction.
Mount Pleasant has been accepting donations for the rebuild as well as relying on a GoFundMe page to accept online donations.
Events such as the police shooting of George Floyd have inspired a recent boost in donations, as have appealed from Virginia Delegate Danica Roem.
While no final date of completion has been set, the church does plan to use two bibles that survived the fire as the centerpiece of the new building.
Recently Mount Pleasant along with the Shady Inn Dance Hall, which is now Golden Church of God, and the settlement itself was designated as historic sites by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.
According to its website, after Mount Pleasant had been established in 1877 it was moved to its current location after the congregation paid $10 for the property on which it now sits. The original building had been destroyed by fire in 1929 and their current building had been constructed that same year.
The congregation of Mount Pleasant has a temporary location at Northern Virginia Baptist Center which is located at 14019 Glenkirk Road in Gainesville.
The church plans to have a birthday event for parishioners to raise donations for rebuilding on November 11.
