Truckin' on the Western Branch

Indiana United Methodist Church. Image by Sheally

Indiana United Methodist Church Indiana United Methodist Church in Bowers Hill was founded in 1850 as a mission church for the Nansemond Indians. In 1862 the church burned, possibly set aflame by Federal troops passing through during the Civil War. The congregation continued to meet, probably in members’ homes, until 1871 when Joseph Bright, a church member and a Nansemond Indian, deeded a half-acre to the church trustees. Other members of the Bright family donated more land parcels, and in the early 1870s they built a new church there. A few years later, they added the Nansemond Indian School.

The Bass and Bright families worked with other church members in 1924 to build a new sanctuary complete with a potbellied stove and a church bell (an old fire bell purchased from the Norfolk Naval Shipyard).

The church, a landmark in the Bowers Hill community, is also the meeting place of the Nansemond Tribe.

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