{"nrhp_refnum":"80001202","name":"St. John Chapel","other_names":["St. John A.M.E. Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1516 5th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Columbus","county":"Muscogee County","state":"GA","lat":32.47482948900006,"lon":-84.98611462099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-09-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Victorian-style brick church at 1516 5th Avenue in Columbus, Muscogee County, Georgia, first built in 1870 as St. John Chapel and now St. John A.M.E. Church.","why_significant":"The church is considered architecturally significant as a simple Victorian Gothic church interpreted by the Black community, with a round tower and conical roof described as one of a kind in Columbus. It is also significant in religion: its mother church, St. James A.M.E., is the second oldest church of the denomination in Georgia, making St. John the second oldest A.M.E. congregation in Columbus.","narrative":"St. John A.M.E. Church at 1516 5th Avenue in Columbus is a brick Victorian church with a raised basement, a gable roof and two towers of different shapes. A round tower with a conical roof stands to the north, and a two-story square tower with a pyramidal roof and corbelled eaves stands to the south. A classical revival porch with a pediment shelters the central double doors, and rounded-arch windows hold stained glass. The congregation built its sanctuary in 1870 and called it St. John Chapel. It grew out of St. James A.M.E., the second oldest church of the denomination in Georgia. A cornerstone gives 1870 for the building and 1890 for the basement, which suggests the original wooden church was raised, given a basement and bricked in. Evidence points to re-bricking and added stained glass, bathrooms and a kitchen in 1908. The church is valued as a simple Victorian Gothic design shaped by the Black community, and for its religious history. The round tower is unique in Columbus.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Victorian; Victorian Gothic church with Classical Revival front porch","criteria":[],"status_note":"Currently used as a church; described as being in good condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.340116-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/80001202.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001202/33ba633452-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80001202/33ba633452-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Linames2018","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_John_Chapel1_Columbus_GA_USA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Linames2018</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_John_Chapel1_Columbus_GA_USA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93206528","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134438387"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/muscogee-county/st-john-chapel-80001202/"}