by Larry Chowning –
Virginia State Police released the grounds of Lower King & Queen Baptist Church back to the congregation and work was completed last week removing debris from an August fire that burned the 100-plus year old Dragonville church building to the ground.
Since August, a state police arson team has been investigating the fire. “They brought in a dog used to help determine the cause of fires and it pointed to a spot in the debris,” said the Rev. Terry Morrison. “They dug down into that area and carried what they dug up to a lab.
“We never heard anything back on that, but when they let us know the land was released, they did not give us a cause for the fire,” he said. “It remains very suspicious!”
At the church site on Friday, Dec. 3, Brooks Davis of Joseph C. Jones Company of Hartfield, the firm clearing the site, said that the firm has also brought in dirt and clay for smoothing and leveling out the land for a new foundation.
Rev. Morrison said that the congregation is dedicated to building a new house of worship on the site where two other Baptist churches have stood. The church that burned in August was the second church on that site. The first one burned in 1919 and was rebuilt in 1920 making the church that burned in August 101 years old.
The congregation is currently conducting Sunday services in the King & Queen Woman’s Club building at King & Queen Courthouse. “We feel very fortunate to have a building to worship in regularly, but are looking forward to being back home in a new house of worship,” said Rev. Morrison.
Last month, New Hope Memorial Baptist Church in Shacklefords in King & Queen County burned to the ground and is under investigation by a state arson team.
