{"nrhp_refnum":"12000020","name":"Church of the Sacred Heart Parish","other_names":["Sacred Heart Parish of New Bohemia","Dhr Id# 074-5021"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"9300 Community Ln.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Petersburg","county":"Prince George County","state":"VA","lat":37.187584828500036,"lon":-77.3229497418292,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-02-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["European"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Catholic parish complex on about 12 acres in the New Bohemia community near Petersburg, Prince George County, Virginia. It includes the 1951 Gothic Revival brick church, a 1908 frame Parish Hall and a parish cemetery begun in 1908.","why_significant":"The complex is the most significant surviving property of New Bohemia and the first Czech Catholic parish in Virginia. It served as the religious, social and cultural center of the Czech farming community from 1906 onward. The church, hall and cemetery together show the community's gradual acculturation, as Czech-language use faded by the mid-20th century.","narrative":"Sacred Heart Parish occupies just over 12 acres in New Bohemia, a community southeast of Petersburg settled by Czech farmers from 1887. The complex includes a brick Gothic Revival church completed in 1951, a one-story frame Parish Hall dating to 1908, and a cemetery with burials since 1908. A 1962 rectory, a 1967 parish center and a 2006 sanctuary that echoes the older church's style are later additions. The parish began with a wooden church in 1906 and was the first Czech Catholic parish in Virginia. Its hall hosted dances, meetings, a short-lived public school and a Bohemian-Slavonic farmers' insurance society, while services were conducted in Czech into the mid-20th century. Grave markers and the 1951 church's conventional design show the community's shift toward American practice. Highway and industrial development in the 1990s erased most of New Bohemia's farms and homes, leaving this complex as the main landmark of the Czech settlement, now also serving Spanish-speaking newcomers.","period_of_significance":"1905 - 1952","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals: Late Gothic Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Still an active parish. The 1951 church is now a gathering space and chapel connected to a 2006 sanctuary, and the cemetery remains active with about ten interments a year.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:03.413039-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/94/6826/41682694/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/12000020.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000020/58d7aeefef-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000020/58d7aeefef-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sacred_Heart_Church_near_Petersburg.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sacred_Heart_Church_near_Petersburg.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682694","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Sacred_Heart_Parish_(Petersburg,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5118046"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/prince-george-county/church-of-the-sacred-heart-parish-12000020/"}