{"nrhp_refnum":"82002391","name":"St. Bartholomew's Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Cheves Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Burroughs","county":"Chatham County","state":"GA","lat":31.97039699900006,"lon":-81.24494327199994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-06-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Black","Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story frame Victorian Eclectic church built in 1896 in the community of Burroughs, Chatham County, Georgia, with an adjacent parish hall that began as a church schoolhouse and was built in 1897.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is an excellent, little-altered rural Episcopal church in the Victorian Eclectic style. It is the oldest continuing black congregation in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia, with roots in a congregation formed in 1832. It also served as an education center for the local black population and as the focal point around which the Burroughs community grew.","narrative":"St. Bartholomew's Church is a one-story frame church built in 1896 in Burroughs, Chatham County, Georgia. A parish hall, first used as the church schoolhouse, was added in 1897. The steep gabled building sits on brick piers and has a corner bell tower, pointed-arch windows, a flush-board frieze and staggered shingle work. Inside, an open framework of pointed arches separates the nave from the altar. The congregation traces its origins to 1832 and is the oldest continuing black congregation in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. Its mission to enslaved people on Ogeechee plantations grew under Rev. William C. Williams, who opened schools in 1845. After the Civil War, former slaves settled and bought land at Burroughs, and the church became the center of the community. The day school it ran passed to the county in 1916 and used the building until 1951. The church and parish hall remain in active community use today.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899, 1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Victorian Eclectic","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed in good condition, occupied and in religious use; the church still serves the community and the parish hall hosts a health clinic and classes.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:41.234527-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/82002391.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002391/d69dc97693-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82002391/d69dc97693-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ebyabe","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:GA_Savannah_St_Bartholomews01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ebyabe</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:GA_Savannah_St_Bartholomews01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207355","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134139327"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/chatham-county/st-bartholomews-church-82002391/"}