The Virginia Department of Historic Resources has approved the placement of 15 new historical markers across the state, two of which will tell stories of local interest—Antioch Baptist Church, the oldest Black church in Middlesex County, and York County native Clementina Rind (ca. 1740-1774), the first female printer in Virginia.

Antioch Baptist Church

Sponsored by the Middlesex County Museum and Historical Society, Inc., the Antioch Baptist marker will be placed on the northwest corner of the intersection of U.S. 17 Business and Route 618.

According to a press release containing the text of the marker, the church was formed in 1866 by “Black members of white-led Clark’s Neck (later Saluda) Baptist Church. The text continues:

“They acquired an acre of land just north of here in 1867 and added two more acres in 1881. Civil War soldiers are buried there. Antioch was one of four founding churches of the Southside Rappahannock Baptist Association and hosted its first meeting i...