The original church was built in 1818 and older graves or gravestones were moved there from other sites. In 1846 a larger church was built and it burned two years after it was completed.The current church was dedicated in 1851.
During the Civil War, the church was used as quarters for Union troops. The soldiers desecrated the interior almost beyond recognition by dismantling it and destroying the pews. In the dark days of Reconstruction it was restored and a new steeple was added in 1883.
Many important West Virginia citizens are buried in the church graveyard including more than 70 members of the Washington family, a number of whom were born at Mt Vernon.
Other notable figures buried here include Edmund Randolph, great-great-grandson of Thomas Jefferson, and Colonel Preston Chew, chief of the horse artillery of the Confederate Army. John Yates Beall, who was convicted as a spy and hanged in 1865, is also buried here.
Four rectors at Zion became bishops: Benjamin Bosworth Smith, George W. Peterkin, William Loyall Gravatt and Stanley F. Hauser.
The public is invited to wander through the graveyard.
Location: 300 E. Congress Street, Charles Town
