{"nrhp_refnum":"03000213","name":"Butterwood Methodist Church and Butterwood Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 40","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blackstone","county":"Dinwiddie County","state":"VA","lat":37.07262419500006,"lon":-77.86112563699999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Military"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural Carpenter Gothic Methodist church and its adjoining cemetery near Darvills, Blackstone, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. The board-and-batten sanctuary was built ca. 1866-67 by William Randolph Atkinson on or near the site of an earlier chapel of about 1762.","why_significant":"The church is significant under Criterion C as a well-preserved Carpenter Gothic building erected soon after the Civil War, when few public buildings were raised in rural Virginia. It is significant under Criterion A because its enlarged cemetery symbolizes home-front sacrifice: about 1,000 graves were moved here when Camp Pickett was created at the start of World War II.","narrative":"Butterwood Methodist Church is a white board-and-batten Carpenter Gothic sanctuary in the countryside near Darvills, Dinwiddie County, with a cemetery on its grounds. William Randolph Atkinson, a member of the congregation, designed and built it around 1866-67 on or near the site of an earlier Butterwood Chapel dating to about 1762. Steep pedimented gables, slim wooden pinnacles and concave gingerbread trim mark the exterior, while the interior keeps its original handmade box pews, doors and pulpit. The building is regarded as a rare public structure raised so soon after the Civil War. The cemetery adds a second layer of meaning. When the federal government condemned 48,000 acres for Camp Pickett in 1941-42, about 1,000 graves from abandoned church and family cemeteries were moved to nine acres around the church. The enlarged burial ground stands for the sacrifice made by this rural community during World War II. The church is also linked to the preacher Devereux Jarratt, who ministered here in the 1700s.","period_of_significance":"1762-1952","architect_builder":"William Randolph Atkinson","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Gothic Revival (Carpenter Gothic)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a church and cemetery; Sunday school and kitchen additions were made in 1950 and the 1980s, and original pews, doors and pulpit remain in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.085028-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/6804/41680413/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/03000213.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000213/83cf661ed2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000213/83cf661ed2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Ser Amantio di Nicolao","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Butterwood_Chapel_oblique_view_with_flagpole.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ser Amantio di Nicolao</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Butterwood_Chapel_oblique_view_with_flagpole.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41680413","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterwood_Methodist_Church_and_Butterwood_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712115"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/dinwiddie-county/butterwood-methodist-church-and-butterwood-cemetery-03000213/"}