Historic black Goochland church, school vandalized

Goochland County authorities are looking for the people responsible for vandalizing a local church and the historic black school on its property but are having little luck so far.

Second Union Baptist Church and its one-story schoolhouse off Hadensville-Fife Road in the rural western end of the county sustained $12,000 to $18,000 in damage last weekend.

The church, established in 1882, had seven windows broken, three of which were stained glass. The 1918 Second Union School, which is being developed into a center for the history of black education in the county, had 14 windows broken.

The vandals also damaged a fence at the front of the church and bent a cross.

"It appears that a piece of the fence may have been used to bash out the windows," said Goochland Sheriff James L. Agnew.

Some in the community speculate that the vandalism, which is a felony because of the amount of the damage, was a hate crime.

"Right off the bat, you would assume it's a race issue," said church trustee John Trent, noting that the church recently had $40,000 worth of renovations. "Everyone is upset and in disbelief. Why would someone do this?"

"We don't have enough information to say whether it was or wasn't a hate crime," Agnew said. "But there's certainly potential, and if we find out who did it and find out who it is, we'll charge them with it."

The school is the oldest surviving school in the county built for black students with money from Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck & Co. It was nearly demolished years ago before church members working with the county's historical society decided to save it and make it a tribute to black education.

Since then, the site has been added to state and national historic registries and was granted a historical marker in 2007.

"We are heartsick that anyone would choose to deface any historic building or church in the county. It's just sad," said Phyllis Silber, executive director of the Goochland County Historical Society. "But we'll just repair the damage and go forward."

Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000 or the Goochland Sheriff's Office at (804) 556-5349.

"Right now, we have absolutely no leads and nowhere to go with this, unfortunately," Agnew said.

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .