{"nrhp_refnum":"84001995","name":"Beulah Church of Christ Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"SR 1457","address_restricted":false,"city":"Welcome","county":"Davidson County","state":"NC","lat":35.88817192100004,"lon":-80.27850557799997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A roughly four-acre church cemetery east of SR 1457, near Welcome in Davidson County, North Carolina, containing about 400 gravestones. The earliest legible death date is 1799, and the congregation that uses it was established by 1788 as Sauer's Church.","why_significant":"The cemetery holds a unique collection of folk gravestones carved by local stonecutters in the late 18th and first half of the 19th century. The decorative soapstone markers, with folk symbols of resurrection and eternity, are described as the height of folk art among the Anglo-German farmers of north Davidson County. It has the county's largest group of stones by the Master of the Upper and Lower Case, plus notable Swisegood School examples.","narrative":"Beulah Church of Christ Cemetery near Welcome, Davidson County, covers about four acres and holds roughly 400 gravestones, around 100 of them made by local craftsmen. The earliest legible death date is 1799, though some older stones can no longer be read. The burial ground belongs to a congregation founded by 1788 as Sauer's Church, when Philip Sauer (Sowers) gave land for a log church; the name changed to Beulah Church in 1851. The cemetery is notable for its decorative soapstone markers carved by local stonecutters, bearing folk symbols of resurrection and eternity. It includes sixteen Pierced Style stones, many Early Phase stones with monogrammed or sunburst tympanums, work of the Swisegood School, and the county's largest group by the Master of the Upper and Lower Case, including the 1857 headstone of Katharine Yonts. These stones are considered high points of folk art among the area's Anglo-German farming communities.","period_of_significance":"Various","architect_builder":"Stonecutters: Grier and unknown others","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as a private, occupied cemetery owned by the church; 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 02:57:48.994343-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/53/7176/47717653/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/84001995.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717653","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beulah_Church_of_Christ_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4899259"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/davidson-county/beulah-church-of-christ-cemetery-84001995/"}