Perhaps you’ve noticed it while traveling I-64 East toward Beckley. At Marmet, a steeple protrudes through the arc of exit ramp 89. Like an intrusion from another world, the steeple marks the convergence of the past and the present, the link between early settlers and the present generation. Built in 1836 by slave labor and funded by Leonard Morris, Marmet’s first settler, this small church was part of a circuit traveled by preachers of the United Methodist Episcopal Church. During the Civil War, the building served as military headquarters and hospital for Union troops. Thanks to historian and teacher, Russell Hansford, the little church was saved in 1974 from destruction by the state when West Virginia’s Turnpike was being constructed. Ebenezer Chapel was placed on the Historic Register, thus becoming the oldest structure, not only of Marmet, but the entire Kanawha Valley. In painting this image, I was compelled to include the distant exit ramp and vehicles to capture the convergence of past and present. …such a unique spot.
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