When Union I Corp commander Joseph Hooker scanned his front from the vicinity of the North Woods, the only feature he could see which he could direct his forces to converge at was a small, white-washed church nestled near the corner of a large wood lot. Ultimately, four Union Corps participated in the attempt to take the Church, establishing it as the 'ground zero' of the morning phase of the battle. By the day's end, some 12,000 casualties would fall within a half-mile radius of the church.
The Dunker Church was built in 1852 on land donated by Samuel Mumma. The Dunkers (or Tunker as the word is spelled in German) are known to themselves as the German Baptist Brethren; the term 'dunker' describes their baptismal ceremony. In their lifestyle and worship they strived for simplicity. The church itself is a model of that ideal. Small and plain-looking, it lacked even a steeple, which the Dunkers thought to be immodest. It was so unostentatious, many Union officers looking at it from the vicinity of the North Woods mistook it for a school house. It contained two entrances (both visible in views 1 and 7), the main one for the use of the men in the congregation, the side for the women. Inside, it was furnished only with plain wooden pews and a plain wooden table, which served as the altar.
On September 14th of 1862, one can only wonder what effect the terrible noise of battle from the passes of South Mountain had on the congregation as it met on that Sunday morning. There must have been great anxiety, but even the most pessimistic could never have foreseen the calamity that was about to befall. Only after the Confederate withdrawal was complete in the early hours of Friday the 19th, could members leave their places of safety and witness the devastation: thousands of dead lay everywhere, and many times that of wounded and dying. Crops, orchards, and livestock were stripped away and/or destroyed, homes and barns looted if still standing. The wartime photos clearly show the damage that was inflicted on the church during the battle. The scars visible on both the southern and eastern sides of the church suggest that it was the target for both Northern and Southern firepower, as the church switched hands each time the Union troops penetrated the West Woods and were subsequently repulsed.
After the battle, the damage done was eventually repaired and services resumed. In about 1916, a new church was built closer into town and this one was abandoned, eventually being destroyed by a severe wind storm in 1921. In 1951, the property was acquired by the Government and a new church was reconstructed in 1961 out of furnishings and building materials that had been saved from the original structure.
See 3-D image of the Dunker Church Region.