{"nrhp_refnum":"06001066","name":"First Evangelical Church","other_names":["First Evangelical Lutheran Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1311 Holman St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Houston","county":"Harris County","state":"TX","lat":29.740405683000063,"lon":-95.37577602499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2006-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A church complex at 1311 Holman Street in Houston, Harris County, Texas, built in 1927 and designed by architect Joseph W. Northrop, Jr. It includes a sanctuary, campanile, education building, rectory and garage.","why_significant":"The complex is argued to be a well-designed local example of Italian Renaissance (North Italian or Lombard Romanesque) architecture, listed under Criterion C in the area of Architecture at the local level. It is the work of Northrop, who came to Houston to oversee construction of Rice Institute's buildings. The congregation, founded in 1851 by German immigrants, also adds historical context.","narrative":"This church campus at 1311 Holman Street in Houston was built in 1927 for a congregation founded in 1851 by German immigrants. It is the third home the congregation has built. Architect Joseph W. Northrop, Jr., who first came to Houston to oversee construction of the original Rice Institute buildings, designed a sanctuary, 100-foot campanile, cloistered walkway, education building, rectory and garage. Each is faced in buff brick, roofed with red terra cotta tile and modeled on Italian churches of the Lombard region. Inside, the nave rises 48 feet to an open timber truss roof and seats about 700. A pipe organ and bell from earlier churches were moved to the new site. Apart from a 1949 addition to the education building and a later gazebo, the complex remains largely as built. It was listed for its architecture, as a well-designed local example of Italian Renaissance style and the work of a notable Houston architect.","period_of_significance":"1927","architect_builder":"Joseph W. Northrop, Jr., architect; James West, general contractor.","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals/Italian Renaissance","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a religious facility and church-related residence; only minor changes since 1927, including a 1949 addition to the education building.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.369261-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/0/9723/40972300/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/06001066.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001066/2ec266e843-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/06001066/2ec266e843-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Evangelical_Church_(HDR).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ed Uthman, Houston, Texas, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Evangelical_Church_(HDR).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972300","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Lutheran_Church_(Houston)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452974"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/harris-county/first-evangelical-church-06001066/"}