{"nrhp_refnum":"75002024","name":"Methodist Tabernacle","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SE of Mathews on VA 611 at jct. with VA 644","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mathews","county":"Mathews County","state":"VA","lat":37.42202137500004,"lon":-76.29636274999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1975-05-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"An open-sided revival meeting pavilion on the south side of Route 611 in the Tabernacle vicinity of Mathews County, Virginia, built in 1922 to replace an earlier structure from around 1879.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a rare Virginia example of an early twentieth-century revival meeting facility. It is noted for being preserved with its original furnishings and rural setting intact. Its stage-like platform, mourners' bench and surrounding ditch reflect revival practice in the automobile age.","narrative":"Set in a flat, cleared field among the woods of Mathews County, this open-sided pavilion was built in 1922 to shelter revival meetings. It replaced an earlier structure from about 1879. A hipped roof with a shuttered clerestory monitor rests on square wooden posts braced at the angles. Twenty-one rows of wooden benches sit on a dirt floor along three aisles, and a full-width speakers platform holds a central pulpit with tiered choir pews on three sides. A shallow ditch surrounds the building; it drains the low ground and reputedly kept drivers from pulling up to the building. The nomination treats it as a rare Virginia survivor of an early twentieth-century revival facility, kept with its original furnishings and rural setting. Its design reflects regularly scheduled revivals, professional-style staging and the arrival of the automobile, which let worshippers travel to services rather than camp on site. At the time of listing it was unused but in good condition.","period_of_significance":"1922","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Not in use at the time of nomination; in good condition, with the new owner intending repairs and a return to religious use.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:57.029081-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/89/6818/41681889/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/75002024.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002024/7458abe3fc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/75002024/7458abe3fc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"JERRYE &amp; ROY KLOTZ MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:METHODIST_TABERNACLE.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">JERRYE &amp;amp; ROY KLOTZ MD</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:METHODIST_TABERNACLE.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41681889","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methodist_Tabernacle_(Mathews,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712834"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/mathews-county/methodist-tabernacle-75002024/"}