When Urbanna Baptist Church was built in the late 1890s, electricity was still a ways away from Urbanna. The church was originally lit with ornate lamp oil light fixtures, which have been electrified and some still hang from the sanctuary ceiling of the church today.
One of those fixtures at some point in time left the church and ended up hanging from the living room ceiling of the old Waverly Hotel that was owned by the Walter Ryland family. The Rylands have been active members of the church for generations.
The old Waverly Hotel building still stands today up on the hill overlooking Urbanna Creek at the mouth of Spout’s Bridge Cove. The house is owned by Bill Bridgeforth.
This week Selden Richardson of Richmond brought the antique fixture back to Urbanna and donated it to the church. When Richardson’s grandparents purchased the hotel property, the fixture was hanging from the living room ceiling. When they sold the property, they took the fixture down and put it in storage.
“I was always told that it came out of the Urbanna Baptist Church and I just felt it should go back to where it came,” said Richardson…
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