{"nrhp_refnum":"73002027","name":"Mattaponi Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"0.5 mi. S of Cumnor off VA 14","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cumnor","county":"King and Queen County","state":"VA","lat":37.718521140000064,"lon":-76.88575791123927,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-03-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A cruciform brick colonial church in a churchyard clearing west of Route 14, near Cumnor in King and Queen County, Virginia. It is the second church on its site, built either in 1730-34 or around 1755.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an excellent example of the cruciform type of Virginia colonial church architecture. It is noted for its glazed Flemish bond brickwork and molded brick doorways, which are well preserved. It also has a long religious history, passing from an Anglican parish church to Baptist use in 1803.","narrative":"Mattaponi Church is a brick colonial church in the shape of a Latin cross, set in a churchyard clearing near Cumnor in King and Queen County, Virginia. It began as the Lower Church of St. Stephen's Parish, formed around 1674, and took its present name from the nearby Mattaponi River in the early nineteenth century. The present building is the second on the site, dated either to 1730-34 or to about 1755. After the Revolution and Disestablishment the Anglican congregation abandoned it, and Baptists took it over in 1803 and have used it since. A fire in 1922 left only the exterior walls standing, and the interior dates from the restoration. Walls of Flemish bond brick with glazed headers, rubbed and gauged brick details, and three doorways with molded brick pediments make it an excellent example of Virginia's cruciform colonial churches. Three colonial graves, including members of Carter Braxton's family, lie nearby.","period_of_significance":"18th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Cruciform (Latin cross) Virginia colonial ecclesiastical architecture","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed in fair condition and altered; in religious use by a Baptist congregation. Fire gutted the interior in 1922, and it was restored to use immediately.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.734579-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/6814/41681403/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/73002027.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002027/14cfda42bf-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002027/14cfda42bf-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jb91archivist","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mattaponi_Baptist_Church_Virginia.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jb91archivist</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:Mattaponi_Baptist_Church_Virginia.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681403","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattaponi_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712803"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/king-and-queen-county/mattaponi-church-73002027/"}