Salem Church, State Route 3, Fredericksburg, Fredericksburg, Virginia

Significance: "Old" Salem Church is the landmark of the Battle of Salem Church, a crucial phase of the Chancellorville campaign. Chancellorville is generally regarded as Lee's greatest achievement, and the Salem Church fight has been called "one of the most brilliant and important of the minor affairs of the war." The building, constructed in 1844, is an example of mid-nineteenth century rural Baptist church architecture in this part of Virginia, and remains basically unchanged. A new floor was installed in 1890, the shingle roof was replaced by a tin roof in 1929, the porch-platform of concrete was added in 1935, the galleries were altered for Sunday school spaces in 1940, and a flue was added in 1953.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: FN-344
Survey number: HABS VA-640
Building/structure dates: 1844 Initial Construction
Building/structure dates: 1890 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1929 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1935 Subsequent Work
Building/structure dates: 1940 Subsequent Work