{"nrhp_refnum":"07000226","name":"Willis Presbyterian Church and Cemetery","other_names":["Gracer Baptist Church","#031-0045"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5733 Floyd Hwy S","address_restricted":false,"city":"Willis","county":"Floyd County","state":"VA","lat":36.85614217300005,"lon":-80.48419977063216,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2007-03-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Religion","Social History","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 1954 fieldstone-veneered Gothic Revival church with a retaining wall and an older cemetery, at 5733 Floyd Highway South in Willis, Floyd County, Virginia. Lyle Stanley built the wood-framed building for a Presbyterian congregation.","why_significant":"It was the last of six rock-faced churches linked to Presbyterian minister Robert W. Childress in Floyd, Carroll and Patrick counties. It is significant under Criterion A for Religion and Social History, reflecting Appalachian Presbyterian worship and social activism. It is significant under Criterion C for its distinctive architecture, notably the crenellated bell tower and the fieldstone veneer with quartz crystals.","narrative":"Completed in 1954 in the small community of Willis, in southwestern Floyd County, this one-story church has light wood framing covered with a thick veneer of quartz and quartzite fieldstone. A square bell tower with round-arched entrances and crenellations of upturned sharp rocks is its main feature, and a few faceted quartz crystals appear among the stones. A fieldstone retaining wall surrounds the building, and a cemetery across the road holds graves from the mid-19th century onward, many with folk-art carving in soapstone and marble. The church was the last of six rock-faced churches associated with Presbyterian minister Robert W. Childress and the only one built after his 1951 stroke. The congregation formed in 1939, met in a former bank building, and raised funds by selling it. Lyle Stanley was contracted to build the church, with local farms supplying stone. It is recognized for its religious and social history and for its architecture. Grace Baptist Church bought it in 2003 and maintains it.","period_of_significance":"1954-1956","architect_builder":"Stanley, Lyle","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Now owned by Grace Baptist Church, which carefully maintains the structure; the Presbyterian congregation had vacated by 2003 and the church remains in service.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:02.906378-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/6787/41678719/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/07000226.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000226/65779139f3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/07000226/65779139f3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"IxieVerns","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Willis_Presbyterian_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">IxieVerns</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:Willis_Presbyterian_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678719","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willis_Presbyterian_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8022100"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/floyd-county/willis-presbyterian-church-and-cemetery-07000226/"}