{"nrhp_refnum":"72000937","name":"Centenary Methodist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"209 New St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New Bern","county":"Craven County","state":"NC","lat":35.109109766000074,"lon":-77.03885766599996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-09-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Centenary Methodist Church is a church building at Middle and New streets in New Bern, Craven County, North Carolina, built 1904-1905 and dedicated October 22, 1905. It was designed by Herbert Woodley Simpson of New Bern with Charles Granville Jones of New York as associated architect.","why_significant":"The church is one of the last examples in New Bern of the Romantic eclecticism of the late nineteenth century, combining Romanesque and Chateauesque elements with an irregular skyline and fluid interior spaces. It is one of the major works of Herbert Simpson, described as New Bern's most important early twentieth century architect. It contrasts with the Georgian, Federal and neo-Georgian architecture that predominates in the town.","narrative":"Centenary Methodist Church in New Bern is a turreted brick building of irregular projections, built in 1904-1905 on a corner site at Middle and New streets. Its wedge-shaped sanctuary is surrounded by chapel, classroom and office wings, and its front combines a five-bay arcaded porch with two towers of unequal height. Buff brick covers the front, red brick the rear, and a red slate roof tops the main block. Herbert Woodley Simpson, a local architect, developed the working drawings from a New Jersey church designed by Charles Granville Jones of New York. The congregation traces its roots to Methodist preaching in the area in the eighteenth century, and it outgrew an earlier New Street building by 1900. The church was dedicated on October 22, 1905. Its exuberant, asymmetrical Romanesque and Chateauesque character contrasts with New Bern's prevailing Georgian and Federal architecture. A 1965 interior renovation kept the original character, and the building remains in use.","period_of_significance":"1904-1905","architect_builder":"Herbert Woodley Simpson (local architect); Charles Granville Jones of New York (associated architect); 1965 renovation by Robert Stephens (architect) with Harold Waggoner (consulting architect); 1956 educational building by Raymond Fuson","architectural_style":"Post-Victorian eclectic, combining Romanesque and Chateauesque elements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in excellent condition and in religious use; altered by a 1965 interior renovation and a rear addition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:58.357096-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/22/7197/47719722/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/72000937.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000937/486f4af323-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72000937/486f4af323-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Cecouchman","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CentenaryMethodist_5440.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Cecouchman</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:CentenaryMethodist_5440.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719722","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centenary_Methodist_Church_(New_Bern,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5059085"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/craven-county/centenary-methodist-church-72000937/"}