{"nrhp_refnum":"83003998","name":"Back Creek Presbyterian Church and Cemeterey","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"SR 1763","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mt. Ulla","county":"Rowan County","state":"NC","lat":35.65104420600005,"lon":-80.70639271399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-12-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Presbyterian church and cemetery site on a knoll in western Rowan County, near Mt. Ulla, North Carolina. The brick Greek Revival temple-form church was dedicated on 21 March 1857, with a 1952 educational building, an 1880s session house and a cemetery.","why_significant":"The church is one of a small group of antebellum brick Greek Revival temple-form Presbyterian churches in the North Carolina Piedmont, and is described as the most accomplished of them. The congregation grew out of a revival-era split from Thyatira Church and was recognized in 1805. The cemetery holds several hundred graves, including markers signed by regional stonecarvers such as George Vogler.","narrative":"Back Creek Presbyterian Church and Cemetery occupies a tree-shaded knoll in the rolling countryside of western Rowan County. The brick church, dedicated in March 1857, is a Greek Revival temple-form building with stuccoed pilasters, a pedimented front and large windows. It is regarded as the most accomplished of a small group of similar antebellum Presbyterian churches in the Piedmont. The congregation formed after a dispute over revival practices led about twenty families to leave Thyatira Church; the Concord Presbytery recognized it in 1805. Two log churches preceded the present building. Inside, a balcony, once reached by a separate stair for enslaved worshippers, survives. A two-story educational building was added in 1952, and a small brick session house dates from about 1882. The cemetery holds several hundred graves, with markers signed by carvers including George Vogler of Salisbury. The church remains in use by its congregation and is a landmark in Rowan County.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival temple form","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still the meeting house of its congregation; the church was rehabilitated in the late 1970s and is in excellent condition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.048862-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/7221/47722128/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/83003998.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003998/c0940aa7ae-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83003998/c0940aa7ae-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Ncpappy","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012-09-28_17-49-28_27_back_creek_church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ncpappy</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:2012-09-28_17-49-28_27_back_creek_church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47722128","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Back_Creek_Presbyterian_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4839084"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/rowan-county/back-creek-presbyterian-church-and-cemeterey-83003998/"}