It’s easy to drive right past St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Norfolk.
The eye is more easily drawn to the larger and looming MacArthur Center next to the brick sanctuary that sits behind a black fence on busy St. Paul’s Boulevard.
It’s easier still to overlook the church’s place in history. The only remaining pre-Revolutionary War building in Norfolk will open the new year by sharing its unique role in the nation's birth, the 250th of which will be commemorated throughout 2026.
St. Paul’s will be open for special tours from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 1.
While the interior replicates churches in Colonial America, the churchyard cemetery and a section of the exterior are also significant. High on one wall is the cannonball fired by Lord Dunmore on the unseasonably warm morning of Jan. 1, 1776.
“That was our New Year’s gift,” said Nat McCormick, the resident church historian who is one of three volunteers guiding tours and answering questions.
The story behind the ball and the subsequent burning of Norfolk isn’t always told in its entirety, which is why McCormick is so jazzed about offering the details. Standing amid the tree-lined cemetery filled with 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th century tombstones, he said, “If you were a Colonial person traveling to present-day Norfolk, this is the only site in the entire city that you would even begin to recognize.
“If we were standing here in 1776, we are the northernmost part of town. There is country behind us.”
Dunmore, the British governor of Virginia for four years until 1775, was aboard a fleet of ships in the Elizabeth River, about half a mile from the church, which was constructed in the shape of a Latin cross. Enough loyalists lived in Norfolk for Dunmore to feel safe, having fled Williamsburg, where the militia was gaining momentum.
The Brits fared badly in the Battle of Great Bridge just a few weeks prior to Dunmore firing the cannonball — a warning, McCormick said, to advise women, children and the innocent to depart Norfolk.
Between 3 and 4 p.m., on Jan. 1, Dunmore started the barrage, firing from what is believed to be the British 28-gun warship, Liverpool.
While many history books blame the last Royal governor for the inferno that destroyed the city, that’s not exactly how it happened, McCormick said.
“The reality is we did it to ourselves,” he said. “The local militia burned the town. They were the ones responsible for the majority of the destruction. Norfolk was burned to the ground. There was nothing left. The church is the only building that survived.”
Recent research points to the patriots choosing Norfolk's destruction over being occupied by the British and being used as a naval base and supply hub. The patriot militia, which was called the "shirtmen” because of their linen green tops, looted homes, stores and churches in what McCormick describes as “an ugly time.”
In 1775, a letter by Thomas Jefferson predicted the events. His words, “Delenda est Norfolk” are Latin for “Norfolk must burn.”
By February 1776, almost nothing was left of Norfolk. St. Paul’s, vandalized inside, stood. Its walls were 30 inches of solid brick, so it could withstand what most buildings could not.
Without mortar to hold the cannonball in place, it fell to the ground. It was discovered by the church sexton in the 1840s. Richmond museums wanted it, McCormick said. St. Paul’s was able to keep it and returned it to the original spot where it is fastened to the wall with plaster.
Visitors are encouraged to walk around the cemetery, the lone burial ground in Norfolk until the 1820s. The inscriptions on the tombs reflect the cosmopolitan character of the region. As Virginia’s largest port, Norfolk attracted English settlers, Scottish traders, the military and the enslaved, who were promised freedom for their loyalty to the British.
“We actually have no idea how many people are buried here,” McCormick said, who looks forward to answering questions on pre-Revolutionary history. Guides Ken Marks and Gary Kirchner will also be giving tours on Thursday.
The church dates to 1624; the oldest tombstone is from 1673. George Washington likely attended morning prayer there in 1763.
“This is that moment where we can share more nuances about what really happened versus the story of the day, which was, ‘Look what the British did,’” McCormick said. “This is an opportunity to tell Norfolk’s story. We’re going to be here throughout the day to do it.”
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church is located at 201 St. Pauls’ Blvd., in Norfolk.
