Midway Baptist Church Cemetery

Carroll County, Virginia

Sulphur Springs District

Location: Iron Ridge Community

Directions: Behind the Midway Baptist Church on Rt. 607 (Iron Ridge Road), 0.7 mile from Rt. 721 (Fries Road).

GPS Coordinates: N 36.71061 W 080.93100

Surveyed by: Buford C. Wilson; Updated 24 Sep 2009; buford-wilson@outlook.com

Comments: The original church was built in 1909. All the records were lost when the church burned in 1936. A new church was built on the site in 1954 and in recent years a new church has been built beside the old one.

By tradition, the old cemetery was neglected for a number of years. Later it was cleared of briars and undergrowth and sown in grass. Unfortunately some well-meaning people removed all the fieldstone grave markers. There are an undetermined number of unmarked graves. The newest marker in the old cemetery is 61 years old. It appears there is room for more burials, but in fact the cemetery has no more space. Many of the unmarked graves are family members of workers who came to this area to work in a nearby iron mine. Many of them moved on, leaving nothing behind but their sweat in the mine, and their loved ones in the cemetery. A new cemetery, beside the old one, has recently been opened. They are both well fenced and in excellent condition. Information in [brackets] is not on the stone.