{"nrhp_refnum":"85001973","name":"Thankful Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"935 Spiderwebb Dr.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Rome","county":"Floyd County","state":"GA","lat":34.258196245500045,"lon":-85.15988853744264,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-09-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Gothic-style brick church built in 1881 at 935 Spiderwebb Drive, at the corner of Gibbons Street, northeast of Rome's central business district in Floyd County, Georgia.","why_significant":"It is significant for architecture as a late 19th-century brick Gothic church with a bell tower and spire. It is also significant in religion as the first independent church for black citizens in Rome. Its local history importance comes from ties to prominent black leaders such as Reverend Jefferson Milner and Reverend John J. Poindexter.","narrative":"Thankful Baptist Church is a brick Gothic-style church completed in 1881 on a small grassy hill northeast of downtown Rome, Georgia. It has stepped wall buttresses, lancet-arched stained glass windows with hood moldings, a round window above the main entrance, and a corner bell tower with a spire. Inside, the sanctuary keeps its original wooden pews, stained glass, and pressed-metal ceiling. A 1976 renovation refinished the pews, added heating and cooling, and remodeled several rooms. The congregation holds a distinct place in local history as the first independent church for black citizens in Rome. Black members had worshipped with the white Rome Baptist Church, held separate services in its basement in the early 1850s, formally organized separately in 1867, and finished a permanent building in 1869. The present church replaced that building on the same site. Members founded other area churches, and the congregation included Reverend Jefferson Milner, who also founded the Rome High and Industrial School, along with doctors, lawyers, and teachers.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899 (specific date 1881)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a church with a membership of about 500; condition rated good; altered by a 1976 renovation.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.433337-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/85001973.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001973/03ca4e812c-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85001973/03ca4e812c-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"C. Samuel Burnham","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thankful_Baptist_Church,_Rome,_GA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">C. Samuel Burnham</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:Thankful_Baptist_Church,_Rome,_GA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208015","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q134305032"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/floyd-county/thankful-baptist-church-85001973/"}