{"nrhp_refnum":"04001468","name":"Sardis Presbyterian Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"7104 GA 20 NW","address_restricted":false,"city":"Coosa","county":"Floyd County","state":"GA","lat":34.26537091500006,"lon":-85.37801840199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-01-12","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Art","Exploration/Settlement","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural Presbyterian church built in 1855 and an adjoining public cemetery established in 1836, on 6.2 acres along State Route 20 near Coosa and Livingston, about 13 miles west of Rome, Floyd County, Georgia.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the oldest Presbyterian congregations in northwest Georgia, tied to an early Presbyterian mission to the Cherokee and to settlement after Cherokee removal. The church is an intact antebellum rural church, and the cemetery has varied tombstones and a rare early stone wall.","narrative":"Sardis Presbyterian Church and Cemetery occupy 6.2 acres at the southern foot of Turnip Mountain in rural Floyd County, Georgia. The church, finished in 1855, is a one-story, wood-framed, clapboard building with a gabled front, a stone foundation, two entrance doors and a single large interior room. Original pine pews, a pine pulpit, wrought iron kerosene chandeliers and a silver communion service survive. Next to it lies a public cemetery begun in 1836 with about 235 burials, enclosed by a rare four-foot stone wall. Its marble and granite markers include the matching monuments of two Bale brothers, Confederate officers killed in the Civil War. The congregation formed just after the Cherokee were removed from the area, and the site may have hosted an earlier Presbyterian mission to them. The property was listed for its role in early settlement, its intact rural church architecture, and the artistry of its grave markers.","period_of_significance":"1836-1954","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Other: No Style (vernacular rural folk church with gable-front form reminiscent of Greek Revival)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"No longer houses an active congregation; the church is maintained by the Sardis Preservation Society and remains relatively intact. 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 02:55:42.602638-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/04001468.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001468/0d16b3a6e9-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04001468/0d16b3a6e9-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Thomson200","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sardis_Presbyterian_Church_and_Cemetery,_Floyd_County,_GA_Nov_2017.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Thomson200</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sardis_Presbyterian_Church_and_Cemetery,_Floyd_County,_GA_Nov_2017.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208009","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sardis_Presbyterian_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14686820"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/floyd-county/sardis-presbyterian-church-and-cemetery-04001468/"}