Poor.
Access by foot only. Not far from CR-2 on the north, but Dog Fork
Creek must be crossed twice by this route, and it can be rather muddy after
a rain. Access from the south has been halted in the past by the
property owner - not certain how he feels about it currently.
** Condition of church
building and grounds as
observed on the given date -
may not be representative of care at other times of the year Scale: Excellent - Good - Fair - Poor - Abandoned
Click
thumbnail photos below to enlarge
Elihu
and Louise Miller deeded property for “the purpose of erecting
thereon suitable church houses for the holding of religious
services”. That was in 1892. Early 1900’s found the people of Dog
Fork gathering together to build Rock Spring Church, a Methodist. A
stone’s throw away is the spring that still furnishes nearby
residents with drinking water.
Generations
of Millers, Clendenins, Reeds, Boggesses, Harrisons, and Carneys have
come together to worship there on Sundays.¹
The
photo to the left is from an article in the Jackson Herald (Ripley, WV) from
some years back - it was submitted to the newspaper by Ethel Ellen Miller
Clendenin, wife of Sanford Lee "Saint" Clendenin. Along with
the photo she provided a list of the people in the photo. The text of
the article says:
"...students
who attended the summer school taught by W.A. Smith in Rock Spring Church,
Jackson County... ROW ONE, (l to r), Lum Reed, parent, and daughter
Bertha; scholars: Glatus Reed, Lilly Miller, Ethel Miller, Cecil Reed,
Hughlett Miller, Alfred Miller, Hanford Reed, Herbert Harrison, Edward
Carney, Oshel Wolf, Henry Reed. ROW TWO (l to r) Litha Munday, Eddie
Reed, Fanny Mullens, Grace Harrison, Nettie Munday, Fanny Miller, Irma
Miller, parent, and son, Brady Miller, Barbara Reed, Roby Harrison, Will
Miller, parent, Peter Reed, parent. ROW THREE (l to r) Ben Carney,
Manse Lewis, Carl Munday, W.A. Smith, teacher, Girta Munday, Zella Hill."
<
These announcements found in the Charleston Daily Mail in 1939 and 1941 >
This
church, and it's accompanying cemetery on the hill to the north, hold a special place in the heart of the WVCPA founders, Joel &
Donna Duprey, as the church is located on land next to the family farm that was in his 4G-grandfather Joseph Harrison's twin
brother Reuben Harrison's family for nearly 200 years until the year
2000, and the cemetery is the resting place of many of Joel's ancestral cousins.