{"nrhp_refnum":"75001651","name":"Bindnagles Evangelical Lutheran Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N of Palmyra at jct. of SR 38003 and SR T330","address_restricted":false,"city":"Palmyra","county":"Lebanon County","state":"PA","lat":40.34406217800006,"lon":-76.61671112999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-07-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story red brick Lutheran church near Palmyra in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, built in 1803 and measuring 36 by 48 feet. It stands three miles north of Palmyra on the site of an earlier congregation.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a well-preserved example of late eighteenth century Country Georgian architecture and a record of the religious life of early German settlers in the Lebanon Valley. Its interior, painted in imitation of marble in 1885, is described as particularly interesting and as representing elements of the Baroque Revival.","narrative":"Built in 1803 of red brick with white trim, Bindnagles Evangelical Lutheran Church stands three miles north of Palmyra, Lebanon County, on land donated in 1753 by John Bindnagles. The two-story building measures 36 by 48 feet. Its bricks were made on the Peter Zimmerman farm along the Quittapahilla Creek, and the walls are thickest at the base, with a molded brick course about four feet up marking the reduction in thickness. The interior is laid out in a Greek cross plan around a Communion table, with a wineglass pulpit at the apex, high-backed pews, and a balcony on wooden Doric columns. In 1885 a Swedish immigrant, John Cardell, painted the previously unpainted interior in imitation of marble, and the work remains unchanged. The church is valued as a well-preserved late eighteenth century example of its style and as a record of early German settlers who organized congregations in the Lebanon Valley. It continues to serve an active congregation.","period_of_significance":"1803","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Country Georgian; described in the description section as Colonial architecture modeled after classic Greek design","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The description states the church is serving an active congregation today and that nothing in the interior has been changed or added since 1885.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.115575-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/75001651.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001651/ac2c0e2adc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75001651/ac2c0e2adc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"MPHaas","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bindnagle_Lutheran_Church_East_Face.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">MPHaas</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:Bindnagle_Lutheran_Church_East_Face.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71996871","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bindnagles_Evangelical_Lutheran_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4914033"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/lebanon-county/bindnagles-evangelical-lutheran-church-75001651/"}