{"nrhp_refnum":"83000228","name":"Butler Street Colored Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"23 Butler St., SE","address_restricted":false,"city":"Atlanta","county":"Fulton County","state":"GA","lat":33.753840162000074,"lon":-84.38063176499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-05-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A vernacular Neo-Gothic Revival church of tan brick at 23 Butler Street, S.E., in Atlanta, Georgia, just south of the Sweet Auburn Historic District. It was built in 1920 under the builder H. Whitworth for a Black Colored Methodist Episcopal congregation organized in 1882.","why_significant":"The nomination argues significance in architecture, religion and local history. The church is a vernacular Neo-Gothic building built for and by Atlanta's Black community, with notable pressed tin ceilings, stained glass and Gothic tracery railings. It is tied to Bishop Lucius H. Holsey, a prominent C.M.E. leader, and to the Sweet Auburn area, a major center of Black business and social life from 1880 to 1930.","narrative":"Butler Street Colored Methodist Episcopal Church is a tan brick, vernacular Neo-Gothic Revival building at 23 Butler Street, S.E., in Atlanta, just south of the Sweet Auburn Historic District. Completed in 1920, it was built by day laborers supervised by builder H. Whitworth. Its pointed-arched stained glass windows, pressed tin ceilings and wooden railings with Gothic tracery are the main architectural features. One window carries a pictured likeness of Bishop Lucius H. Holsey, a C.M.E. leader who helped found the congregation in 1882 and who died the year the church was finished. The congregation's first church, a wood building on land donated by businessman John T. Grant in 1884, was demolished to make way for the present structure. The church is one of several historic Black churches near Auburn Avenue, an area that flourished as a center of Black enterprise and social life between 1880 and 1930. It is still in religious use and remains largely unaltered.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific date 1920)","architect_builder":"Builder: H. Whirworth (spelled H. Whitworth in the narrative)","architectural_style":"Vernacular Neo-Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied; used as a religious building; condition marked good and unaltered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:40.629698-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/83000228.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000228/4abc95e5ea-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83000228/4abc95e5ea-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"©Andre Richardson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Butler_Street_Colored_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(1).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">©Andre Richardson</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:Butler_Street_Colored_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(1).jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"76000631","name":"Sweet Auburn Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/sweet-auburn-historic-district-76000631/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208114","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q122441983"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/fulton-county/butler-street-colored-methodist-episcopal-church-83000228/"}