There is a Roper Church Road that crosses I64 in New Kent County. How did it get its name?
-Dave Roper (roperld@vt.edu, www.roperld.com)

Roper's Church Road is named after Roper's church. The church is long gone and I think there is nothing left but possibly remnants or signs of the foundation. There were Roper's in New Kent so the church was probably named after the family.

Does anyone know for which Roper it was named?
-Dave Roper, roperld@vt.edu

Or does anyone know what DENOMINATION of church it was? Or what dates it existed??

Can you pinpoint the location of Roper Church?

What WAS Ropers Church is located on Ropers Church Rd. which crosses over Interstate 64 near Barnes Swamp and Diascund Reservoir. It is very near the New Kent/James City County line.

Do you have any knowledge of the denomination of "Roper Church" or the years during which it existed and had a congregation?

I believe that Roper's Church was Methodist but I am unable to find much information on it. I know that it was in existence in 1864 as Grant camped there during the Civil War. Supposedly Mr. Roper (don't know which one) decided that he wanted an open air church and had the sides torn down. This did not appeal to the congregation and, as Tabernacle had been formed, most of the congregation drifted there. Also, apparently Mr. Roper was not a very likeable person and that probably hastened the demise of the church.

There is no information about Roper's Church in Dr. Harris' book, Old New Kent County. As he only put information in the book on people and places that existed in Revolutionary times, this leads me to believe that Roper's church did not exist in the 1700's.

Does Roper Ch. Rd. have a state route number?

From what I can tell of my mapping tools, it would appear that Roper Church Road is also designated as Virginia State Rd 621. It appears to bear the name Stewart's Road until it crosses Barnes' Swamp near 37.44062 degrees North, 76.86859 degrees West.

Barnes' Swamp also forms the boundary between James City County and New Kent County in this vicinity, so when the road crosses Barnes' Swamp, it seems to emerge on the other side as Roper Church Road.

If I am correct that the road takes the name Roper Church Road at the county line, then it is roughly 0.6 mile from the county line to the Southbound right of way of Interstate 64 and another 0.6 miles from that point to the location on Stage Road where Roper Church Road seems to end in a "T" intersection. The entire length of Roper Church Road would therefore appear to be about 1.2 miles.

I do NOT see an indication of a church or ruins on the USGS maps of the area:

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.asp?S=11&T=...

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.asp?S=11&T=...

My GUESS is that the church would have been near the water so a location closer to Barnes' Swamp at the South end of the road would seem to make the most sense.

I cannot make out anything from the satellite images that appears to be useful, though Roper's Church Road is well defined as it crosses the Interstate and proceeds North towards Stage Road:

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.asp?T=1&S=1...

http://terraserver.homeadvisor.msn.com/image.asp?S=11&T=...

It appears that the Southern portion of the Roper's Church Road is narrower, less improved and has overhead tree cover.