Pine Run Church was established abt. 1823/24. When it closed, members moved their memberships to Mt. Moriah abt. 1861. Some burials continued at Pine Run after this date, but most members attended Mt. Moriah and the majority of burials began at this location from 1861 on.)
(Submitted by Sandy Day)
The oldest regular Baptist church in Jefferson County was organized in Steubenville May 17, 1812. By March 5, 1814, it was decided to remove their church meetings from Steubenville to Wayne Township. A meeting was held on this date at the home of Mordicai Cole near Cross Creek in Wayne Township. This was near where the village of Unionport is now located. The first meetings were held in private homes until a church building could be erected. On September 20, 1817, church members from Thumb Run Church in Faquier Co, Virginia became members of this church…
A log building was erected this same year and dedicated. The first pastor was Elijah Stone. The church building was still standing in 1880; although it had been many years since services had been held in it. As time passed, it was decided to remove from the Unionport area and organize a new Church closer to where most of the members lived. This happened because many of Pine Run’s membership lived in the area where Mount Moriah Church now stands. The new Church organized and was called Mount Moriah Baptist Church and 35 members from Pine Run organized this new church on July 6, 1861. (A list of the 35 original members is listed in the church history). The cemetery extraction was done in 1995 and is included in the publication. In 1862, John and Thomas Cole donated land and the Church was built in 1863. This church building was continually used until it was destroyed by arson in 1989. A new church building was built in 1990 and is used today.
