{"nrhp_refnum":"70000442","name":"St. Philip's Church Ruins","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S of Orton off NC 1533","address_restricted":false,"city":"Orton","county":"Brunswick County","state":"NC","lat":34.03938655400003,"lon":-77.94688508799999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1970-02-26","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Politics/Government","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"The ruins of an 18th-century brick church at the former town of Brunswick, now Brunswick Town State Historic Site near Orton, Brunswick County, North Carolina. Four brick walls of a 54 by 78 foot rectangular building remain.","why_significant":"St. Philip's was known as \"His Majesty's Chapel in the Colony\" and served a congregation that included two royal governors and other leading colonial figures. Royal Governor Arthur Dobbs and Supreme Court justice Alfred Moore are buried in the churchyard. Its large Palladian window was noted for its fine quality, and the ruins are a reminder of a destroyed town important to early North Carolina.","narrative":"Four brick walls are all that remain of St. Philip's Church, built in the colonial town of Brunswick on the Cape Fear River, in what is now Brunswick Town State Historic Site near Orton. The rectangular building measured 54 by 78 feet, with walls about 22 feet tall and three feet thick, laid in English and Flemish bond. A large Palladian window opening still dominates the east wall. Construction was authorized in 1751, slowed when lightning and rain brought down the roof around 1760, and was completed with lottery funds; the church was dedicated in 1768. Royal governors Dobbs and Tryon had special pews there, and Dobbs and Supreme Court justice Alfred Moore are buried in the churchyard. British forces burned most of Brunswick, including the church, during the Revolution, and it was never rebuilt. The ruins are the town's most prominent surviving remnant and recall its early role in North Carolina's history.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":"Richard Price (thought to be brickmason); Thomas Dick (chief carpenter)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Ruins; four uncovered walls remain, church never rebuilt after being burned during the Revolution. Owned by the State Department of Archives and History and open to the public as part of a state historic site.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.49406-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/7/7191/47719107/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/70000442.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000442/a44ec3e3a2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/70000442/a44ec3e3a2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Upstateherd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brunswicktown_St_Phillips_Church_Ruins.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Upstateherd</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:Brunswicktown_St_Phillips_Church_Ruins.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"13000698","name":"Orton Plantation (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/orton-plantation-boundary-increase-13000698/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719107","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Philip%27s_Church_(Brunswick_Town,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591512"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/brunswick-county/st-philips-church-ruins-70000442/"}