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| With long tendrils of Spanish moss draping the trees on its grounds and tombstones of all shapes and sizes marking its large, rambling graveyard, Moss Hill Church has been referred to as "the Little Church in the Wildwood," "Mossy Hill Church," "the Pioneers' Church" and simply "the old church." For almost 150 years Moss Hill has stood on what is now the Greenhead-Vernon Cutoff Road, or County 279, overlooking the peaceful Holmes Valley in Washington County. The rustic old church building remains in its natural, unpainted state as a landmark and remembrance of days gone by when early settlers came together for services and for social gatherings. Over the years, Moss Hill has weathered the Civil War and woods fires. The building also provided shelter to those in need, traveling on the old road. In 1857, Dr. Stephen Roche, a well-known man in the community, a Catholic and a past delegate to Florida's Constitutional Convention in St. Joseph, led Methodist friends in the construction of a church. Moss Hill Church was built with hand-planed, 18-to 20-inch planks sawed from first-growth pines at Davis Mill on Hard Labor Creek. Square nails and pegs were used to hold the planks in place on the area's first all-frame structure. During the first several years of the church's existence, white families and their slaves worshipped together. The men and women entered through two separate doors, which remain in the front of the church. Inside, the separation continued with a long piece of wood placed down the center of the church, dividing the pews between the sexes. The slaves sat on the right side, the elderly and hard of hearing on benches inside the banister. At that time members strictly adhered to the church's teachings. Women were not permitted to have much to do with the affairs of the church. Members could be expelled for offenses such as profanity, dancing and drunkenness. In 1963, through the assistance of Carswell, the Florida Board of Parks erected a historical marker near the antebellum church. The General Commission on Archives and History of the United Methodist Church also designated Moss Hill and its grounds a historic site. In 1984, Moss Hill was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In the graveyard, 32 Confederate veterans' graves were marked through the help of Col. Jack Roche. Dr. Roche is among the hundreds who lie buried in the cemetery. The doctor remained true to his Catholic religion and never entered the church for services but listened outside in his buggy beneath one of the windows. Some of the others buried in the cemetery included the names Tiller, Russ, McKeithen, Miller, Payne, Blue, Posey, Hudson, Jones, Chance, Fleming and Simmons. Unusual as it may seem the fingerprints of some of those who erected the church remain on the ceiling, along with bare footprints from children who probably walked on the resin-filled planks before the church was built so long ago. Thanks to The News Herald for this Information |