{"nrhp_refnum":"80002857","name":"Ebenezer Academy, Bethany Presbyterian Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"U.S. 21","address_restricted":false,"city":"Houstonville","county":"Iredell County","state":"NC","lat":35.862194954000074,"lon":-80.84439964199998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-12-08","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival frame church built in 1855 with an adjoining cemetery, and a one-story log school built in 1823 (Ebenezer Academy), both at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Houstonville, Iredell County, North Carolina.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the academy was among the most significant pre-Civil War schools in Iredell County, operating far longer than the others. It links the church and school to the Hall family of educators, whose first pastor James Hall founded earlier schools. The cemetery's dry-laid stone wall and wrought-iron gates, and the church's connection to the early black congregation and its 1865 founding of Freedom Presbyterian Church, are also cited.","narrative":"Bethany Presbyterian Church, a one-story frame building of 1855, stands in Houstonville with a fieldstone-walled cemetery on its north and east sides. Its simple Greek Revival form is typical of mid-to-late nineteenth-century Piedmont churches. Across the road stands Ebenezer Academy, a log schoolhouse built in 1823 and chartered in 1822 by trustees all tied to the church. It operated as an academy until 1856 and then as a subscription school until 1903, a longer run than any other pre-Civil War school in the county. Its founders were nephews of Rev. James Hall, the church's first pastor, who had himself founded earlier schools in Iredell. Hugh Roddy Hall taught there from 1832 to 1856, and students included future doctors, ministers, lawyers and congressmen. The cemetery holds pre-Civil War stones of church and community leaders, some dating from at least 1785. Its wrought-iron gates are noted for craftsmanship. The school was restored in 1913, 1945 and 1968.","period_of_significance":"1823-1903","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Ebenezer Academy is still owned by Bethany Church and used as the chapter house of the Fourth Creek Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:41.011658-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/75/7180/47718075/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/80002857.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002857/c82f665507-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002857/c82f665507-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"G Keith Hall","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bethany_Presbyterian_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">G Keith Hall</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:Bethany_Presbyterian_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718075","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebenezer_Academy,_Bethany_Presbyterian_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14707914"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/iredell-county/ebenezer-academy-bethany-presbyterian-church-and-cemetery-80002857/"}