{"nrhp_refnum":"74002065","name":"Emmanuel Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SE corner of N. Church and Walnut Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lockhart","county":"Caldwell County","state":"TX","lat":29.88547288500007,"lon":-97.67349963099997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-06-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story masonry Gothic Revival church at the southeast corner of N. Church and Walnut Streets in Lockhart, Caldwell County, Texas, built in 1856 under the missionary Reverend Joseph Wood Dunn.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is probably the oldest Protestant church in Texas and has been used continuously for Episcopal services since 1856. It is important to the spread of the Episcopal faith in Texas and is one of the earliest structures in Lockhart, making it a local landmark.","narrative":"Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Lockhart is a small, one-story masonry building completed in 1856 and reputed to be the oldest Protestant church still in use in Texas. Its walls are ashlar blocks of rock and native cement, and hand-hewn cedar timbers frame the pitched roof. Gothic details include a pointed-arch double entrance door, lancet windows divided by small wall buttresses, and diamond-shaped timbering in the gables. A bell tower once crowned the front but was removed after a cyclone in 1879 weakened it. Reverend Joseph Wood Dunn organized the parish in 1853. After townspeople denied the Episcopalians the use of the only public worship building, he and his parishioners built their own church, starting with a limestone foundation in 1854. Services continued even during the Civil War, when soldiers also used the building. The church is valued for its role in the spread of the Episcopal faith in Texas and as an early landmark of Lockhart.","period_of_significance":"19th Century","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition given as good and altered; in continuous use for religious services, with a proposed restoration to replace the removed bell tower.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.181717-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/33/9714/40971433/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/74002065.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002065/9080492c38-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74002065/9080492c38-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emmanuel_episcopal_church_2011.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emmanuel_episcopal_church_2011.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40971433","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110001739"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/caldwell-county/emmanuel-episcopal-church-74002065/"}