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Wesley Chapel
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Front of the church
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Location	Off U.S. Route 23 at Hopetown, Ohio
Coordinates	39°22′40″N 82°58′22″W / 39.37778°N 82.97278°W / 39.37778; -82.97278
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
Built	1834
Architectural style	Gothic, High Victorian Gothic
NRHP reference No.	79001936
Added to NRHP	February 2, 1979

Wesley Chapel, also known as the "Hopetown Church", is a historic church building in the unincorporated community of Hopetown, Ohio, United States. Built for a Methodist congregation, the church's earliest portion was constructed in 1834; this rectangular structure forms the core of the present building. Major changes to the building since the 1830s have included the erection of a five-sided addition on the church's northern side in 1888 and significant destruction and repairs after a 1926 lightning strike.

Built of brick on a stone foundation, the church features a distinctive pyramid-shaped roof above the 1888 addition. At one time, the church also included a tower above the entrance; the tower was the portion of the building hit by the 1926 lightning strike, and it was removed as a result. The various architectural elements combine to form a building that is distinctively in the Gothic Revival style.

From its earliest years, Wesley Chapel was the center of community life in Hopetown. The community was settled during the final years of the eighteenth century; the oldest graves in the church's cemetery date from the 1790s. For decade after decade, the church was the location of social activities, such as quilting bees and fish fries. Many years passed without the church being able to obtain its own minister, so it was served by circuit-riding ministers instead. Despite the prosperity brought by the coming of the Ohio and Erie Canal in the 1830s, Hopetown remained small; Wesley Chapel was always at the heart of a small settlement.

In 1979, Wesley Chapel was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, qualifying both because of its historically significant architecture and because of its important place in local history. More than forty Ross County locations are on the Register, but Wesley Chapel is the only religious building among them.

References

1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
2. ^ Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 1227.
3. ^ Wesley Chapel, Ohio Historical Society, 2007. Accessed 2010-12-30.

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Ross County, Ohio
National Historical Park	Mound City Group National Monument
National Historic Landmarks	Adena (Thomas Worthington House) Hopeton Earthworks
Historic districts	Chillicothe Business District Chillicothe's Old Residential District Grandview Cemetery Great Seal Park Archeological District Charles Metzger Mound Seip Earthworks and Dill Mounds District
Other properties	Adena Mound Levi Anderson House Howard Baum Site (33RO270) Austin Brown Mound Buchwalter House-Applethorpe Farm T.C. Campbell Mound Canal Warehouse Cedar-Bank Works Chillicothe Water and Power Company Pumping Station Frankfort Works Mound Gartner Mound and Village Site Dr. John Harris Dental School Higby House High Banks Works Highbank Farm Hopewell Mound Group Kinzer Mound Henry Mace House Mary Worthington Macomb House Mountain House Oak Hill Renick House, Paint Hill Seip House South Salem Academy South Salem Covered Bridge Spruce Hill Works David Stitt Mound Story Mound State Memorial Tanglewood Vanmeter Church Street House Anthony and Susan Cardinal Walke House Wesley Chapel
Formerly listed	Kendrick-Barrett House
See also: National Register of Historic Places listings in Ross County, Ohio and List of National Historic Landmarks in Ohio

v t e National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
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• Churches completed in 1834
• 19th-century Methodist church buildings in the United States
• Gothic Revival church buildings in Ohio
• Methodist churches in Ohio
• Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio
• Buildings and structures in Ross County, Ohio
• National Register of Historic Places in Ross County, Ohio