{"nrhp_refnum":"71000269","name":"St. Joseph's Catholic Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"812 Poplar St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Macon","county":"Bibb County","state":"GA","lat":32.83677845600005,"lon":-83.63356930799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-07-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Joseph's Catholic Church is a Romanesque Neo-Gothic brick church at 812 Poplar Street (also 533 New Street) in Macon, Bibb County, Georgia. Work began in 1889 and it was dedicated June 6, 1892, with completion in 1904.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the mother church of Catholicism in middle Georgia, from whose congregation came parishes in Albany, Atlanta and many smaller towns. It was also the birthplace of a Catholic laymen's association that fought anti-Catholic prejudice in the 1920s and served as a model nationally. It is also noted for its architecture, stained glass, marble altars and organ.","narrative":"St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Macon, Georgia, is a cruciform, basilica-type church with twin spires about 200 feet high and a small dome over the transept. Its pressed red brick walls are trimmed in marble, and flying buttresses and pinnacles supply the Gothic touches. Inside are three hand-carved Carrara marble altars, 67 stained glass windows made in Munich, and a Pilcher organ installed in 1903. Construction began in 1889 under Jesuit lay brother Cornelius Otten, who drew on a Galveston church designed by N.J. Clayton, and the building was dedicated in 1892 and finished in 1904. The site was bought in 1887 after the city's Catholics, organized since the early 1840s and previously housed in two converted Presbyterian churches, outgrew their space. The church is regarded as the mother church of Catholicism in middle Georgia, giving rise to congregations from the Florida border to north of Atlanta. A laymen's association founded here in the 1920s countered anti-Catholic prejudice and became a national model.","period_of_significance":"1889-1904","architect_builder":"Built under the supervision of Brother Cornelius Otten, S.J.; plans drawn by a Mr. Woodruff with help from Brother Otten; inspired by a church in Galveston, Texas by N.J. Clayton","architectural_style":"Romanesque Neo-Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in good condition, occupied, in religious use as a parish church.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.470649-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/71000269.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000269/67c080bf35-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000269/67c080bf35-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.0","author":"Andy Coan","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macon,_Georgia.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Andy Coan</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Macon,_Georgia.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"74000658","name":"Macon Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/macon-historic-district-74000658/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207103","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph%27s_Catholic_Church_(Macon,_Georgia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7401506"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/bibb-county/st-josephs-catholic-church-71000269/"}