{"nrhp_refnum":"03001428","name":"Davis Chapel","other_names":["Roberts Chapel","Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church","Dhr#100-5015-0006"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"606-A S. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alexandria (Independent City)","county":"Alexandria","state":"VA","lat":38.80094747600003,"lon":-77.04771350599998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-01-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Education"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Gothic Revival church at 606-A South Washington Street in Alexandria, Virginia, built in 1834 and extensively remodeled in 1894. It is also known as Roberts Chapel and Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church.","why_significant":"It is described as the oldest African American church structure in Alexandria. It housed one of the city's oldest schools and has long served as a social gathering place for the African American community. Its changes from 1834 through 1953 reflect the growth of the congregation.","narrative":"Davis Chapel, later called Roberts Chapel and now Roberts Memorial United Methodist Church, is a two-story brick church on South Washington Street in Alexandria, Virginia. Built in 1834 for African American members of Trinity Methodist Church, it was named for the Rev. Charles A. Davis and renamed in 1845. The vernacular Gothic Revival building was remodeled in 1894 with a new pressed-brick facade, small corner towers, an entrance and stained-glass windows. It is described as the oldest African American church structure in the city. The congregation ran a Sunday school and a secular school, which closed in 1846 and reopened during the Civil War. In 1864 the church organized the Washington Annual Conference, the first conference for African Americans in the Methodist church. It anchored the neighborhoods known as the Bottoms, Hayti and the Hill, and remains in use as a church.","period_of_significance":"1834-1953","architect_builder":"Builder: William Veitch","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Gothic (vernacular Gothic Revival)","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still used as a church and church school.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.476901-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/16/6785/41678516/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/03001428.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001428/78b9acc5eb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03001428/78b9acc5eb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"The original uploader was Ser Amantio di Nicolao at English Wikipedia.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Davis_Chapel,_Alexandria.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">The original uploader was Ser Amantio di Nicolao at English Wikipedia.</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:Davis_Chapel,_Alexandria.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"66000928","name":"Alexandria Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/alexandria-historic-district-66000928/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678516","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberts_Memorial_United_Methodist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5241852"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/alexandria/davis-chapel-03001428/"}