{"nrhp_refnum":"83003816","name":"Cape Fear Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SR 2233","address_restricted":false,"city":"Grays Creek","county":"Cumberland County","state":"NC","lat":34.90592375500006,"lon":-78.82661476899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-10-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story frame Greek Revival church with a rear cemetery, built in 1859 in the Grays Creek area of southeastern Cumberland County, North Carolina, about half a mile east of the Cape Fear River.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a bold vernacular interpretation of Greek Revival temple-form church architecture of mid-nineteenth century rural North Carolina. It is the last of a group of such churches once found in Cumberland County. It also houses one of the county's oldest Baptist congregations, which traces its origins to the late eighteenth century.","narrative":"Cape Fear Baptist Church, completed in 1859 in the Grays Creek area of Cumberland County, North Carolina, is a two-story frame meetinghouse with a monumental pedimented portico. Its tapered, square-in-section columns are wrapped with a wide band at mid-height, and the boxed cornice is trimmed with diagonal wooden strips that give a fasces-like effect. Inside, the double front entrances open directly into the sanctuary, with the stair vestibule at the rear, a reversal of the usual arrangement. A gallery runs along three sides and still holds original curved-end pews. The building is the third used by a congregation that organized by 1790, making it one of the oldest Baptist groups in the county. It was listed as the last surviving example of the Greek Revival temple-form churches once common in Cumberland County. A brick educational wing was added in 1967, and the congregation has remained active.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Described as in excellent condition and unaltered, with the congregation still active and the church in continuous use; a brick educational addition was built in 1967.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:51.282382-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/34/7198/47719834/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/83003816.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003816/51737d64d5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003816/51737d64d5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Gerry Dincher","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cape_Fear_Baptist_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Gerry Dincher</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cape_Fear_Baptist_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719834","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Fear_Baptist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5034782"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/cumberland-county/cape-fear-baptist-church-83003816/"}