The Old HAMRICK Barn is located about 6 miles from Webster Springs on the Bergoo Road, just off Rt. 15 here in Webster County. The old wooden walls reverberated with praise & laughter in the early 1830's when it was a meeting place for Methodist Church services, but when new church buildings began to appear in the remote mountain hollows, the HAMRICK Barn reverted to its former status as a shelter for livestock. Until one woman decided to discover her roots--and set down new ones!
The story goes like this. On April 19th, 1811, Benjamin HAMRICK, son of Revolutionary War veteran married Nancy GREGORY, daughter of a Webster Co. pioneer & the couple set up housekeeping in a log cabin on the Elk river near Webster Springs. They raised 10 children, cleared hundreds of acres of land for farming & founded a school before Benjamin was called to fight the British in the War of 1812.
When more & more settlers came to the Elk Valley, the Methodist Church took note & sent the popular Rev. Addison HITE to administer to the isolated congregration here. Since there was no established church building, Benjamin HAMRICK offered his new barn as a meeting place & in 1833 the first organized church meeting took place. When new church buildings cropped up, the barn fell back to its former use & so it remained until 1983 when Miss Portia HAMRICK, a great-granddaughter of Benjamin HAMRICK deeded the barn & 1 1/4 acres of surrounding grounds to the Methodist Historical Society. The Methodist Historical Society, Inc. has spent years restoring the Old Hamrick Barn & on Oct. 3, 1992, celebrated the 5th anniversary of its restoration & the construction of a new amphitheater at the site.
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