{"nrhp_refnum":"84002004","name":"Fair Grove Methodist Church Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"NC 109, SR 2072 and 2070","address_restricted":false,"city":"South Thomasville","county":"Davidson County","state":"NC","lat":35.851457466000056,"lon":-80.07805895799999,"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 church cemetery of about 2.5 acres at the junction of SR 2072, SR 2070 and old NC 109 near South Thomasville, Davidson County, North Carolina, containing about 400 gravestones beside Fair Grove Methodist Church.","why_significant":"The cemetery holds a unique collection of folk gravestones made by local stonecutters in the late 18th and first half of the 19th century. Decorated soapstone markers with folk symbols of resurrection and eternity represent the height of folk art among the Anglo-German farmers of north Davidson County. It also contains two of the finest examples of the \"Pierced Style\" in the county.","narrative":"Fair Grove Methodist Church Cemetery is a roughly 2.5-acre burial ground in north Davidson County, North Carolina, holding about 400 gravestones. The church congregation, the first known Methodist group in the county, was established by 1828 when land was deeded for a church building. About 15 of the earliest locally made stones sit beneath old cedar trees in front of the church. The oldest, dated 1829, is credited to stonecutter Thomas Fisher and is the only known stone by him. Six slate-like stones from the 1840s have simple classical designs and professional lettering. The headstones of Margaret and George Hoover, also dated 1829, are considered the peak of the Swisegood School. The cemetery was listed because these decorated soapstone markers, with folk symbols of resurrection and eternity, show the height of folk art among the area's Anglo-German farmers, and because it includes two of the county's finest Pierced Style examples.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Stonecutters unknown; one 1829 gravestone is attributed to stonecutter Thomas Fisher","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition marked fair, deteriorated and unaltered on the form; original site.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:48.677168-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/57/7176/47717657/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/84002004.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002004/0e429d5790-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84002004/0e429d5790-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"336photog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fair_Grove_Methodist_Church_Cemetery.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">336photog</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:Fair_Grove_Methodist_Church_Cemetery.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47717657","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_Grove_Methodist_Church_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5429814"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/davidson-county/fair-grove-methodist-church-cemetery-84002004/"}