{"nrhp_refnum":"82001308","name":"St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Cowles St. between Woodland Blvd. and West St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wilkesboro","county":"Wilkes County","state":"NC","lat":36.14935553300006,"lon":-81.15487599599999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-10-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small brick Gothic Revival parish church and adjoining cemetery on a hilltop on the north side of Cowles Street in Wilkesboro, Wilkes County, North Carolina. The church was built in 1848-1849 by local builder D. Dameron.","why_significant":"The church marked a significant extension of the Protestant Episcopal Church into northwestern North Carolina, and its 1849 consecration was one of the earliest in what is now the Diocese of Western North Carolina. It is one of the few remaining buildings tied to the pre-Civil War development of Wilkesboro. It is also a well-preserved example of mid-nineteenth century Gothic Revival design in a small brick parish church.","narrative":"Set on the crest of a hill above Wilkesboro, this small brick church and its cemetery date to 1848-1849, when local builder D. Dameron constructed the building for a young Episcopal congregation formed in 1836. Its steep gable roof, stepped corner buttresses and lancet windows recall English country parish churches. Inside, a trussed-rafter ceiling, grained pulpit and font, and walnut pews survive largely original. The north wall was rebuilt after a windstorm in 1928. Bishop Levi Silliman Ives consecrated the church in July 1849, one of the earliest consecrations in what is now the Diocese of Western North Carolina, and he praised it as a beautiful Gothic structure built at small expense and without debt. The church is among the few buildings left from Wilkesboro's years before the Civil War. The adjoining cemetery holds members of local families such as the Gordons, Calloways, Barbers and Wellborns.","period_of_significance":"1848-1849","architect_builder":"D. Dameron","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a religious property; the form describes the church as little altered, with the north wall rebuilt after a 1928 windstorm.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:58:56.959334-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/13/7187/47718713/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/82001308.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001308/8c43930e29-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001308/8c43930e29-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilkesboro_St._Paul%27s_Episcopal_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilkesboro_St._Paul%27s_Episcopal_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718713","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Paul%27s_Episcopal_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7591134"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/wilkes-county/st-pauls-episcopal-church-and-cemetery-82001308/"}