{"nrhp_refnum":"79003291","name":"Fourth Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2800 P St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Richmond (Independent City)","county":"Richmond (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.53596475900008,"lon":-77.40970563199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-09-07","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A temple-form, stuccoed brick Baptist church at 2800 P Street in the Church Hill section of Richmond, Virginia, erected in 1884 in the Greek Revival style.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church expresses Richmond's conservative late 19th-century architectural taste, pairing a plain Greek Revival facade with a stylish Victorian interior. It is also presented as a symbol of the social, religious and economic conditions of Black Richmonders after emancipation, tracing the congregation from slave prayer meetings to an independent church founded in 1865.","narrative":"Fourth Baptist Church, at 2800 P Street on the northern edge of Richmond's Church Hill neighborhood, was completed in 1884. It is a monumental, temple-form building of stuccoed brick, fronted by a distyle portico in antis with Doric columns on a high podium, with cast-iron rails, lamp standards and a fence. Inside, the sanctuary reflects late Victorian taste, with oak pews, pulpit and furniture, a large pipe organ and stained-glass windows, some portraying early church figures including the first pastor, the Reverend Scott Gwathmey. The congregation grew from prayer meetings held by enslaved people, moved into the basement of the Leigh Street Baptist Church in 1861, and was formally founded in December 1865. A frame church was built in 1875 before the present building. The nomination values the church both as a restrained Greek Revival design resembling Richmond's Old First Baptist Church and as a symbol of Black religious independence after emancipation. A Sunday School building was added in 1964.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival exterior with late Victorian interior","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as occupied, in private religious use, and in excellent condition; the podium was veneered in cast stone in 1964 and a Sunday School building was added that year.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:56.877999-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/6831/41683123/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/79003291.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003291/2ee458f69a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79003291/2ee458f69a-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Crazyale","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fourth_baptist_church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Crazyale</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fourth_baptist_church.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"00000887","name":"Church Hill North Historic District (Boundary Increase)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/virginia/church-hill-north-historic-district-boundary-increase-00000887/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683123","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Baptist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16891386"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/richmond/fourth-baptist-church-79003291/"}