Photo by Skip Lawrence The Solid Rock Assembly of God in Point of Rocks is part of a tour of historic houses of worship organized by The Point of Rocks Community Historical Society. Formerly the Epworth Methodist Church, it was built in the 1890s.

Four churches and the Masonic Hall will be open for a tour Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Point of Rocks Community Historical Society is organizing the tour of the worship centers, built from 1843 to 1911.

"I think it's interesting that this community had five churches at that time," said Pepper Scotto, a past president of the society. Point of Rocks had about 200 residents in the 1890s.

The churches aren't grand buildings that dominated surrounding landscape. But they are testimony to the importance of faith in a time when people would walk miles to attend services in all kinds of weather.

"The architecture of these churches hasn't been modernized that much," Ms. Scotto said.

Ms. Scotto and Greg Fisher, current president of the historical society, said they have found many news stories that indicate church members often walked three, four, even five miles each way to attend church.

"The church was also a social center," Ms. Scotto said.

Four of the five worship centers are within easy walking distances in Point of Rocks , even in today's motorized society. Only St. Paul's Episcopal Church is a mile or so outside this Potomac River community.

St. Paul's is also the oldest church in the tour, built in 1843. It is one of two brick churches on the tour. It's built in a style commonly found in public buildings in the 1840s, with a stairstepping facade on the front of a traditional gabled building.

The other brick church, the 1911 Heritage Baptist Fellowship was originally the Trinity Chapel Episcopal. It is a typical gabled building with a bell tower.

St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Manor Parish, built in 1889, resembles a New England country church with its white clapboards and center bell tower.

The Solid Rock Assembly of God, formerly the Epworth Methodist Church, was built sometime in the 1890s. The Solid Rock church and the Masonic Hall, built in 1898, were each designed by Andrew Colbert. They are simple two story gabled buildings. The Solid Rock church has a bell tower.

Masonic halls are considered houses of worship, so the historical society decided to include the building in the tour, Ms. Scotto said. The second floor of the building has a player organ, which will be on the tour. The Masonic Hall was built as a town hall.

St. Paul's served as a federal hospital during the Civil War. It was used for several years, Mr. Fisher said.

St. Luke's parish existed during the Civil War, in a different building. The parish lost half its congregation when the church banished southern sympathizers.

For many years there was a Catholic chapel, but it closed in 1978. Point of Rocks also had an African Methodist Episcopal church. The Kennedy Chapel survived into the 1950s.

"Everyone pitched in to help build all the churches," Mr. Fisher said. While Point of Rocks was a transient town, with canal and railroad workers, many of them wanted to worship.

Point of Rocks served as a vacation town in the late 19th century, attracting visitors from Washington who came up for the legendary fishing. The American Indians first popularized the area as a good fishing location.

In the 19th century, when the area teemed with immigrant workers, bars were a place to gather. But so were dances, dinners and plays, which often took place in the town hall.

Churches also had the job of burying people, which became a major task during a 19th century cholera epidemic.

Floods frequently inundated buildings in Point of Rocks , but these churches have all survived intact. The Catholic chapel and the Kennedy Chapel were flood victims.