It was Napoleon who is rumored to have said, “There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.” Centuries later, Stephen King agrees: “Time takes it all, whether you want it to or not,” he says. This view of time is consistent with the story of New Salem Baptist Church in Sophia, West Virginia, a critically endangered historic place in West Virginia.
Once upon a time, there was a coal camp in Raleigh County, West Virginia known as Tams, named for the town owner, W.P. Tams, Jr. During the roaring twenties, the town was triply segregated: one part for black miners and their families, one part for white miners and their families, and one part for immigrants and their families.
It was the northern part of town that the black population of Tams called home, and, in 1921, they asked W.P. Tams, Jr. to build them a church.
He did, and New Salem Baptist Church was built. Seven years later, New Salem's congregation purchased the church outright from Tams, and received the property deed free and clear... almost.
Now, more than a hundred years later, the church still carries the weight of that reversion clause. At its peak, Tams had a population of 1,250. Now, the New Salem Baptist Church is the only building left standing in the northern portion of the coal camp. At its peak, New Salem Baptist Church boasted 350 members. Today, it has 10.
All of these things - dwindling membership, aging building, overgrown town - intertwine to make New Salem Baptist Church one of West Virginia's critically endangered historic places. If this church disappears, so will an important piece of West Virginia's African American history.
To help keep this building from disrepair, the congregation of New Salem Baptist Church has partnered with the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia to work toward creating a plan to protect and maintain the church for posterity.
The congregation also accepts donations from the public to help maintain this historically significant building, which has become a popular tourist stop along the Winding Gulf ATV trails outside of Sophia.
To learn more, visit the Preservation Alliance of West Virginia’s website. Had you heard of or ridden past this beautiful, critically endangered place in West Virginia before? Time won’t win this fight, not if the folks of Tam, West Virginia can help it!
What other important historic spots in West Virginia do you worry might be in danger of losing their battle with time? Sadly, many already have.
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