{"nrhp_refnum":"73001994","name":"Augusta Stone Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"U.S. 11","address_restricted":false,"city":"Fort Defiance","county":"Augusta County","state":"VA","lat":38.23841384450006,"lon":-78.97359122282707,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-05-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"Augusta Stone Church is a limestone Presbyterian church on the west side of Route 11 (the old Valley Pike) at Fort Defiance, about seven miles north of Staunton, Augusta County, Virginia. The stone meeting house was first used in 1749 and has since been enlarged into a cruciform plan.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest surviving church in the Valley of Virginia and the oldest Presbyterian church in continuous use in Virginia. It is tied to pastor John Craig, the state's first regularly settled Presbyterian pastor. Its original form shows the simple rectangular plan of early Valley meeting houses, and it is one of only three surviving colonial church buildings in Virginia with clipped gables. It also owns the largest set of colonial communion silver of any Virginia church.","narrative":"Augusta Stone Church sits in a grove of trees beside Route 11, the old Valley Pike, at Fort Defiance, about seven miles north of Staunton. Its limestone rubble walls, 20 inches thick, belong to the original meeting house, which measured 57 feet 2 inches by 39 feet and had a clipped gable roof. Pastor John Craig supervised construction, and on January 22, 1749, he recorded the congregation's first meeting and preaching in the new building. It replaced an earlier log meeting house probably built in 1740. The church was renovated in 1922 into a cruciform plan with a small spire, and a stone wing was added in 1956, but the original roof trusses remain. It is described as the oldest surviving church in the Valley of Virginia and the oldest Presbyterian church in continuous use in the state. The congregation also owns the largest set of colonial communion silver of any Virginia church.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a church; the form describes the building as much enlarged and altered, with additions in 1922 and 1956.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.902562-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/6796/41679689/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73001994.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001994/009a8e43f5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001994/009a8e43f5-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Hamiltonl at English Wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Augusta_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Hamiltonl at English Wikipedia</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Augusta_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41679689","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_Stone_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4820970"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/augusta-county/augusta-stone-church-73001994/"}