Location: US 501/NC 130 at NC 710 west of Rowland
County: Robeson
Original Date Cast: 1959
Ashpole Presbyterian Church was organized in 1796, the union of two other churches, Ashpole Meeting House and Shoe Heel Church. The Ashpole community from which the church took its name dated from 1750, and was settled by English, Welsh, and Scottish settlers. Some early preachers delivered their services in Gaelic to benefit the non-English speakers in the congregation.
The first Ashpole Church building was a log structure, with hand-hewn pine timbers mortised together with pegs and handmade nails. The current structure was constructed in 1860 and includes a second-floor gallery used for worship services by slaves during the Civil War years. During the war both Union and Confederate forces used the church for religious services as well as a hospital.
Ashpole Church founded a Ladies Missionary Society in 1885, sending female members of the congregation to Oklahoma in the 1890s and Korea in 1909 to spread the gospel. The church continues to actively pursue missionary programs today, as well as providing educational scholarships for the younger church members.
Ashpole has had an active congregation for over two hundred years. The church was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
References:
Zachary Fulmore, Annals of the Ashpole Community, 1750-1814 (1912)
Robeson County Heritage Book Committee, Our Heritage: Robeson County, North Carolina, 1748-2002 (2002)
C. J. McCallum and Lucie M. McCallum, Historical Sketch of Ashpole Presbyterian Church, Rowland, North Carolina, 1796-1996 (1996)