Fincastle Cemetery and Church

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, friends — and I'll do my best to do it justice. Now, out here in Henderson County, the land has a long memory, even when the people on it don't leave much behind. Fincastle — you might drive right past where it stood and never know a whole community once thrived there.

A trade center, they called it. Flourishing. And today?

Little physical evidence remains. But the cemetery and that old church building are still holding the line, still standing on that ground like they've got something to prove. It goes back to 1851.

That's when Dr. Pleasant P. Adams deeded 1,091 acres of land to a man named John Tindel.

Eleven hundred acres. And all the marked graves in that cemetery date from that time — which tells you something about how quickly a community can put down roots, and how quickly it can start losing people, too. Now, the land could've gone a lot of different ways after that deed changed hands.

But here's where Tindel's daughter enters the story. Lydia Parmer — she is credited with legally setting aside that land for public use. Because of her, it stayed.

Dr. Adams' wife, meanwhile, is said to have been among the very first to be buried in that graveyard. The land was barely deeded before it became sacred ground.

John and Mary Tindel are interred there. And so is a man named Daniel McRae — Fincastle's first postmaster, and the man credited with naming the town itself. Think about that.

The man who gave the place its name is buried in the place he named. The church on that site has taken several forms over the years — a number of different buildings have occupied the same ground — and early records, well, they haven't been maintained. What we do know is that circuit preachers and local religious leaders held worship services there.

Baptist and Methodist congregations worked out a tidy arrangement: they worshiped on alternate Sundays. Shared the building, shared the ground, each taking their turn. And that building did more than hold services.

It was a schoolhouse. It was a polling place. It hosted political rallies, elections, special events — the full civic life of a community passing through its doors week after week, year after year.

No congregation is associated with it today. The flourishing trade center is gone. But that building?

It still serves as a polling place. And every year, people come back for a homecoming celebration — gathering at the same site where Baptists and Methodists once took turns, where Daniel McRae is buried beneath the name he gave the town, where Lydia Parmer made sure the land belonged to everyone. Fincastle may have faded.

But it hasn't quite let go.

What the marker says

Little physical evidence remains of the early Henderson County community of Fincastle. The pioneer cemetery and church building at this site stand as reminders of this once-flourishing trade center. In 1851 Dr. Pleasant P. Adams deeded 1091 acres of land to John Tindel, and all marked graves date from that time. Tindel's daughter, Lydia Parmer, is credited with legally setting aside the land for public use. Dr. Adams' wife is said to have been among the first to be buried in the graveyard. Many pioneers of the community are interred here,including John and Mary Tindel and Daniel McRae, Fincastle's first postmaster, who is credited with naming the town. A number of different church buildings have occupied this site. Although early records of the churches have not been maintained, it is known that circuit preachers and local religious leaders held worship services here. Baptist and Methodist congregations worshiped on alternate Sundays. The church building also served as a schoolhouse and as a place to hold elections, political rallies and special events. Although no church congregation is associated with it today, the building continues to serve as a polling place and as the site of an annual homecoming celebration.