Florida
Moss Hill Church and Cemetery
Moss Hill Cemetery
A stroll through Moss Hill
Cemetery is a journey back
through time. You will find the
headstones of many of the
area's early settlers. The marker
above is for Freeman B. Irwin,
who was captured by Union
raiders in 1864 in an action
associated with the Battle of
Marianna. He died in a Northern
prison camp.
Moss Hill Methodist Church
Holmes Valley, Florida
|
Known today for its sparkling
beaches and resorts, Northwest
Florida was once an untamed frontier.
Early settlers carved small farms from
the wilderness and built little
communities here, many of which
have faded to dust.
A surviving symbol of one such
settlement, however, is the Moss Hill
Methodist Church in Holmes Valley
(north of Panama City near the small
town of Vernon).
Constructed during the 1850s, Moss
Hill was the centerpiece of the
Holmes Valley settlement which
predated the Civil War. In fact, a
number of elderly men from the
community were captured when they
marched out as part of a local "home
guard" to confront a column of Union
soldiers on their way back to
Pensacola from the Battle of
Marianna. The skirmish didn't go well
for the locals, and several died in
Northern prison camps.
Moss Hill Church and Cemetery are located
on the Vernon - Greenhead Road in
Washington County, Florida, just outside the
small town of Vernon.
The grounds are open to the public during
daylight hours. In addition to the historic
church building and the adjacent pioneer
cemetery, a historic marker on the grounds
tells the story of the church and community.
The church is listed on the National Register
of Historic Places.
