{"nrhp_refnum":"00001477","name":"St. Thomas African Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"401 N. Dooly St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hawkinsville","county":"Pulaski County","state":"GA","lat":32.28906929000004,"lon":-83.47297064299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-12-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large brick church building at 401 N. Dooly Street in Hawkinsville, Pulaski County, Georgia, built 1908-1912 on the site of earlier church buildings. The builder is unknown.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that the church is an important community landmark in a historically African-American neighborhood and was historically the largest and only brick building there. It is also presented as an excellent example of a side-steeple church in the Folk Victorian style. The congregation dates to 1866 and later hosted civil rights groups such as the NAACP.","narrative":"St. Thomas African Methodist Episcopal Church is a large brick, gable-front church at the corner of North Dooly and Second streets in Hawkinsville, Georgia. Built between 1908 and 1912, it has a tall side steeple, brick buttresses, round arches over windows and doors, and decorative brickwork, all features of the Folk Victorian style. The congregation was organized in 1866 under Reverend Henry McNeil Turner, and earlier church buildings stood on the site, including a wood-framed one from 1877. The nomination describes the church as historically the largest and only brick building in its African-American neighborhood and as a key community landmark. It notes that the church hosted civil rights groups such as the NAACP in the 1960s. The builders are not known, though local African-American craftsmen are thought likely. Inside, the plaster walls, wainscoting, altar railing and choir loft ironwork survive. The church remains in use as a house of worship and meeting place.","period_of_significance":"1908-1950","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Folk Victorian","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a church; the congregation numbers about 50 and the building hosts community meetings and choir rehearsals.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:42.741399-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/00001477.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00001477/28277cbf6a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00001477/28277cbf6a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Blastoids","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Thomas_African_Episcopal_Church.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Blastoids</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:St._Thomas_African_Episcopal_Church.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209291","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Thomas_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16900614"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/pulaski-county/st-thomas-african-methodist-episcopal-church-00001477/"}