{"nrhp_refnum":"04001179","name":"Bath Presbyterian Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Edie Bath Rd., 0.5 mi. W of US 1","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blythe","county":"Richmond County","state":"GA","lat":33.33605460000007,"lon":-82.17265889199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-10-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural antebellum Presbyterian church and its adjoining cemetery on Edie-Bath Road in the village of Bath, near Blythe, Richmond County, Georgia. The church was built about 1836 by master carpenter John Trowbridge.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a well-preserved antebellum rural church and one of the oldest buildings in continuous use by a Presbyterian congregation in Georgia. The cemetery is significant for its marble markers, iron fencing and varied burial forms. The intact slave balcony documents the otherwise poorly recorded presence of enslaved people at the Bath summer resort.","narrative":"Bath Presbyterian Church and Cemetery sit half a mile west of U.S. 1 in the small village of Bath, about 15 miles southwest of Augusta. Bath developed as a summer resort where wealthy Burke County families came for spring waters and relief from summer fevers. Those families founded the congregation, which shared a pastor with Waynesboro until 1879. The present white clapboard church, almost square under a hipped roof, was completed about 1836 by Massachusetts-born carpenter John Trowbridge. It keeps its original pulpit, chandelier, plaster walls and a balcony built as a slave gallery. A Greek Revival Sunday school wing dates to about 1860, and a fellowship hall was added in 1991. Behind the church, the cemetery holds 124 identified graves, the earliest marked one dated 1814. It contains marble monuments, rustic iron fences and above-ground burials. The property is recognized for its architecture, funerary art, religious history and evidence of enslaved worshippers, and the congregation still meets there.","period_of_significance":"1814 - 1954","architect_builder":"Trowbridge, John (1817-1894), master carpenter, born in Mass., moved to Georgia in 1830s","architectural_style":"OTHER: rural antebellum church (with Greek Revival-style portico and Sunday school wing)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The church continues to be used as a church, as it has since 1836; the cemetery is also still in its historic function.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:42.724594-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/04001179.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001179/f9558e7563-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001179/f9558e7563-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jud McCranie","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bath_Presbyterian_Church,_Blythe,_GA,_US.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jud McCranie</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:Bath_Presbyterian_Church,_Blythe,_GA,_US.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209345","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath_Presbyterian_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14686599"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/richmond-county/bath-presbyterian-church-and-cemetery-04001179/"}