Gunnell's Chapel

Gunnell's Chapel

1879

Gunnell’s Chapel was constructed in 1877 as a small one-room clapboard house of worship along Georgetown Pike on land donated by the Robert Gunnell family. The church was built directly beside the Langley Toll House. It served as a place for worship for Black Methodists and as a schoolhouse for Black youth in the surrounding area.

Robert Gunnell

6324 Georgetown Pike, McLean, VA 22101

Dranesville

Robert Gunnell was a Black enslaved man, who obtained his freedom in 1856. Shortly thereafter he was able to acquire 6 ½ acres in Langley and farmed the land. It was on a portion of this land that a small one-room clapboard church was built ca. 1879 for Black Methodists. It also served as a schoolhouse for Blacks in the surrounding area. A combination house, general store, and post office was located a few feet away. Today the two are combined and are occupied as a private residence. They are listed on the Fairfax County Inventory of Historic Sites as one unit: Langley Toll House and Gunnell’s Chapel.