{"nrhp_refnum":"72001523","name":"Leigh Street Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"517 N. 25th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.533844808000026,"lon":-77.41642703999997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1972-03-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Leigh Street Baptist Church is a Greek Revival church building at 517 North Twenty-Fifth Street at Leigh Street in Richmond, Virginia, built 1854-57 to designs by Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia.","why_significant":"The nomination points to the church's Greek Revival exterior by architect Samuel Sloan, which survives in original form and represents antebellum Richmond's architectural excellence. It also stresses the congregation's community role: it was the fourth Baptist church in Richmond, helped found seven others, and is the oldest white Baptist church in the city to continuously occupy the same building.","narrative":"Leigh Street Baptist Church is a Greek Revival house of worship at the corner of Leigh and Twenty-Fifth Streets in Richmond's Church Hill area. Designed by Philadelphia architect Samuel Sloan, it was begun in 1853, constituted in 1854 and dedicated in 1857. Its stuccoed front has a Grecian Doric portico with six fluted columns and a full entablature. The original wooden porch was replaced in the 1880s with granite steps and an ornamental cast-iron railing attributed to Asa Snyder. Sunday School wings were added in 1917 and 1930, and the interior was reworked several times, notably in 1911 and 1930. The church was the fourth Baptist congregation in Richmond and helped establish seven others, including First African Baptist Church in 1858. Known as the Church of the Helping Hand, it is the oldest white Baptist church in the city to remain in one building. Its largely unchanged exterior reflects antebellum Richmond's architectural quality.","period_of_significance":"1854-57 (19th Century)","architect_builder":"Samuel Sloan of Philadelphia (architect); cast-iron stair railing attributed to Asa Snyder","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Marked as occupied, in good condition, altered, and in religious use; the interior was remodelled in 1911, 1917 and 1930 while the exterior largely survives.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.881631-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/6831/41683133/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/72001523.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001523/e0521b0a46-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/72001523/e0521b0a46-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Morgan Riley","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LeighStreetBaptistRichmond.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Morgan Riley</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:LeighStreetBaptistRichmond.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"70000884","name":"St. John's Church Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/st-johns-church-historic-district-70000884/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683133","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Street_Baptist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16894081"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/leigh-street-baptist-church-72001523/"}