{"nrhp_refnum":"83001912","name":"Third Creek Presbyterian Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SR 1973","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cleveland","county":"Rowan County","state":"NC","lat":35.76069765450006,"lon":-80.6841243275263,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-07-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Presbyterian church and cemetery of rectangular brick meeting house form on a granite foundation, located in western Rowan County north of Cleveland, North Carolina. The church was completed in 1835 within a graveyard whose oldest surviving stone is dated 1776.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church has statewide architectural and historical significance as one of the oldest surviving Presbyterian church buildings in North Carolina and a remarkably intact example of vernacular meeting house architecture that retains much of its original furnishings. Its congregation is tied to the Third Creek settlement and to prominent Rowan County planters and leaders, several of whom are buried in the cemetery. The cemetery also contains many gravestones signed by nineteenth-century stonecarvers.","narrative":"Built in brick in 1835 on a granite foundation, Third Creek Presbyterian Church is a three-bay by four-bay meeting house in Flemish bond, set in a grass-covered cemetery west of Cleveland in Rowan County. Builders D. Lyles and H. Austin used brick from nearby Baker's Mill, and a tablet on the west gable records the date. Its interior keeps original flat-board pews, a double-aisle plan, a vaulted ceiling and a gallery. The congregation traces its origins to a preaching station established by John Thomson around 1751, and the oldest gravestones date from 1776. Notable burials include Samuel Young, a Patriot leader, and Jacob Krider, who chaired the building committee. The church is valued as one of the oldest surviving Presbyterian churches in North Carolina and as a well-preserved example of meeting house design from the period between the Federal and Greek Revival eras.","period_of_significance":"1835-1949","architect_builder":"D. Lyles and H. Austin","architectural_style":"Meeting house","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Renovated in 1977 and 1978 with roof, guttering and repointing; the church is described as in use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:40.976562-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/38/7221/47722138/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/83001912.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722138","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Creek_Presbyterian_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7784813"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/rowan-county/third-creek-presbyterian-church-and-cemetery-83001912/"}