{"nrhp_refnum":"79001685","name":"St. Matthias Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Valley St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Asheville","county":"Buncombe County","state":"NC","lat":35.59174491700003,"lon":-82.54815521599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-05-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small Gothic-style brick church on a hill in Asheville's East End, the city's oldest black neighborhood, on the east side of Valley Street. The present building was constructed 1894-1896.","why_significant":"The nomination argues that it houses the oldest congregation of black Episcopalians in western North Carolina and shows cooperation between the races in serving freedmen after the Civil War. It also cites the church as one of the finest built for a black congregation in the state, with interior woodwork rivaling that of any late nineteenth-century church.","narrative":"St. Matthias Episcopal Church is a small brick Gothic church on a steep hill in Asheville's East End, historically the city's oldest black neighborhood. Built between 1894 and 1896, it has a cruciform plan, a semi-hexagonal apse, a stained-glass rose window, and a small attached chapel. Inside, dark Gothic-style woodwork, heavy timber roof trusses, and original furnishings remain. The congregation began in 1865 as Trinity Chapel, a mission of Trinity Parish founded for newly freed slaves with the help of rector Jarvis Buxton. It ran a parochial school for black children and grew under several rectors. Bishop Joseph Blount Cheshire laid the cornerstone in 1894 and consecrated the church in 1898. The nomination describes it as the oldest black Episcopal congregation in western North Carolina, helping found other black congregations, and as one of the finest churches built for a black congregation in the state. It remains a landmark in Asheville's black history.","period_of_significance":"1894-1896","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, private, in religious use; condition good and unaltered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.096178-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/48/7192/47719248/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/79001685.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001685/4da9e1b85a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79001685/4da9e1b85a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Farragutful","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Matthias_Episcopal_Church_(Asheville,_North_Carolina).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Farragutful</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:St._Matthias_Episcopal_Church_(Asheville,_North_Carolina).JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"79001676","name":"Downtown Asheville Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/north-carolina/downtown-asheville-historic-district-79001676/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719248","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Matthias_Episcopal_Church_(Asheville,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18158392"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/buncombe-county/st-matthias-episcopal-church-79001685/"}