{"nrhp_refnum":"72000412","name":"Washington Presbyterian Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"206 E. Robert Toombs Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Washington","county":"Wilkes County","state":"GA","lat":33.73567964700004,"lon":-82.73598277099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A white clapboard Presbyterian meeting house with a multi-stage steeple at 206 East Robert Toombs Avenue in Washington, Wilkes County, Georgia. The auditorium was built in 1825, the steeple, vestibule and pulpit were added about 1836, and a columned porch about 1890.","why_significant":"The nomination presents it as a significant Georgia example of the New England Wren-Gibbs type meeting house, with well-proportioned composition and fine details such as the triglyph frieze and elliptical fanlight. It is also tied to the early growth of the Presbyterian movement in northeast Georgia, including the first minister ordained in Georgia.","narrative":"Washington Presbyterian Church, at 206 East Robert Toombs Avenue in Washington, Georgia, is a white clapboard meeting house topped by a multi-stage steeple. Its auditorium, the oldest part, went up in 1825 as a plain rectangular building. Around 1836 a vestibule, pulpit and steeple were added, and a columned porch with fluted Doric columns followed about 1890. The church is regarded as a fine Georgia example of the New England Wren-Gibbs meeting house type, with a triglyph frieze in the steeple and an elliptical fanlight over the entrance echoed by an oval gable window. Inside, arched windows of handblown glass light a wainscoted room. The congregation also has a place in early Presbyterian history in northeast Georgia: John Springer, its first minister, was ordained in 1790 as the first minister ordained in the state. Alexander H. Webster, a pastor who died in 1827, is buried at the entrance. The building remained in use and largely unaltered in 1971.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific dates 1825, c.1836, c.1890)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Wren-Gibbs type New England meeting house","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and unaltered, on its original site; still in use by its congregation as of 1971.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.318607-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/72000412.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000412/0f1ec558a8-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000412/0f1ec558a8-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Frances Benjamin Johnston","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_GA_Presby_exterior.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Frances Benjamin Johnston</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Washington_GA_Presby_exterior.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"04001319","name":"Washington Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/washington-historic-district-04001319/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209985","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Presbyterian_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14686939"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/wilkes-county/washington-presbyterian-church-72000412/"}