Hopewell United Methodist Church, Lignum
Courtesy Donna Boyd

In 1890, the Hopewell Church building was purchased from Lael Baptist Church, placed on logs and pulled by a team of horeses (driven by 12 year old John Wesley Myers) to its present site. Hiding inside the church Emma Myers Brown, Abby Myers Curtis, and Benton C. Myers. The 1/2 mile trip took two days to complete. William J. Myers reportedly stated that he "hoped it would do well, " thus the church was christened "Hopewell." --- excerpted from "History of the Hopewell United Methodist Church," included in Sharing Hopewell's Favorites, a cookbook by the Hopewell United Methodist Church Youth Fellowship, Lignum, VA, 1994.