{"nrhp_refnum":"09000262","name":"Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"300 Cragmont Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Black Mountain","county":"Buncombe County","state":"NC","lat":35.616428057000064,"lon":-82.33962368199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2009-04-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, front-gable frame African Methodist Episcopal Zion church on a hill west of downtown Black Mountain, Buncombe County, North Carolina, with an adjoining cemetery. The cornerstone gives its construction date as 1922.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is locally significant under Criterion C as an intact example of a Gothic Revival-influenced church. It also places the building within the religious and social life of the Black community in Black Mountain, built by descendants of freed slaves. The associated cemetery is treated as meeting Criteria Consideration A because of the building's architectural significance.","narrative":"Built in 1922 on a hill west of downtown Black Mountain, Buncombe County, North Carolina, Thomas Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church is a frame, one-story, front-gable building roughly thirty-six by fifty feet, with weatherboard siding, an asphalt roof and a tall pyramidal-roofed bell tower over the south entry vestibule. Its pointed-arch windows, interior beaded board ceiling and low curving wood divider around the pulpit reflect a Gothic Revival influence. Church records indicate the builders were Ervin Kennedy, Thomas Lytle and Ed Stepp. The congregation traces its founding to families descended from enslaved people and free Black residents, and the land was deeded in trust for the church in 1892. The adjoining cemetery holds graves of founding families, including the Stepp, Lytle, Burnette and Daugherty families. The church is regarded as an intact example of its type in the region, and it was the focus of religious and social life for the Black community in the town during the early twentieth century.","period_of_significance":"1922","architect_builder":"Kennedy, Ervin; Lytle, Thomas; Stepp, Ed","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":null,"vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:42.046311-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/7191/47719133/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/09000262.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000262/89980de811-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/09000262/89980de811-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Bill Fitzpatrick","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Chapel.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bill Fitzpatrick</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:Thomas_Chapel.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719133","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Chapel_A.M.E._Zion_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18158765"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/buncombe-county/thomas-chapel-a-m-e-zion-church-09000262/"}