{"nrhp_refnum":"00000074","name":"Omer Christian Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of GA 316 and GA 324","address_restricted":false,"city":"Winder","county":"Barrow County","state":"GA","lat":33.952746371000046,"lon":-83.76276751099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-02-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Landscape Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-room rural vernacular wood church and an adjoining cemetery on about two acres near Winder, Barrow County, Georgia. The church was built in 1883 and moved to the cemetery site in 1910.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be an excellent and unusually intact example of a late 19th-century rural vernacular church in Georgia, essentially unaltered despite its move. The cemetery is significant as an intact rural cemetery landscape with orderly rows, simple markers, cedar trees and a swept-yard appearance. Both are significant at the local level under Criterion C.","narrative":"Omer Christian Church and Cemetery sits in a rural part of Barrow County near Winder, Georgia, where development is growing because of nearby Highway 316. The church is a one-room, front-gabled wood building with clapboard siding, a metal roof and shuttered windows. Inside are pine plank walls, a coved ceiling and hand-hewn pews. Settlers built it in 1883 from trees felled in a storm, naming it for evangelist Reverend R.V. Omer. After the congregation dissolved in 1909, the building was moved in 1910 to the cemetery, which began around 1820 and holds about 280 known graves, including some of the area's earliest settlers. The church is considered significant because it has avoided common changes such as artificial siding, replacement windows and large additions. The cemetery is valued for its orderly rows, simple markers and informal landscape. Descendants of the five original families still gather each August for a reunion service and dinner on the grounds.","period_of_significance":"c.1820-1950","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Other: rural vernacular church","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The church has been inactive as a congregation since the move and serves as a funeral chapel; it is used once a year for a reunion service. The cemetery is still in use.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.267766-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/00000074.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000074/23034fa2ff-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00000074/23034fa2ff-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Gwringle","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Omer_Church_and_Cemetery,_photographer_facing_SE.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Gwringle</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Omer_Church_and_Cemetery,_photographer_facing_SE.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93206925","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q116465415"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/barrow-county/omer-christian-church-and-cemetery-00000074/"}