{"nrhp_refnum":"85002281","name":"Wesley United Methodist Church","other_names":["Site #19","Wesley Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1164 San Bernard St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Austin","county":"Travis County","state":"TX","lat":30.26993752900006,"lon":-97.72615993099998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-09-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A buff-colored brick church at 1164 San Bernard Street in Austin, Travis County, Texas, built in 1929 on the southwest corner of Hackberry and San Bernard streets. It has a partly below-grade first floor and a raised sanctuary.","why_significant":"When built in 1929, it was one of the largest Negro churches in Texas. The congregation dates to the end of the Civil War and has taken part in community projects, mission work and education. Its facilities hosted Samuel Huston College classes and the formal organization of the West Texas Methodist Conference.","narrative":"Wesley United Methodist Church, at 1164 San Bernard Street in Austin, is a buff-colored brick building completed in 1929. The first floor sits partly below grade and holds an auditorium, classrooms and church offices, while the sanctuary is raised above. A tall tower at the northwest corner, about three stories high, marks the sanctuary entrance and has stone finials, lancet windows and a tracery oculus in its east gable. Stepped buttresses, cast-stone caps and sills, a continuous cast-stone band and lancet stained-glass windows complete the exterior. The building is unaltered and in excellent condition. The congregation formed in Austin at the end of the Civil War, first meeting in the basement of the Tenth Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, then building a stone sanctuary at 9th and Neches streets, replaced in 1882. When the present church opened in 1929, it was one of the largest Negro churches in Texas. Samuel Huston College held classes there, and the West Texas Methodist Conference was formally organized in its facilities.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Physical condition excellent and unaltered; still used as a church.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:20.940739-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/59/9702/40970259/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/85002281.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002281/f3fe353d65-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85002281/f3fe353d65-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wesley_church_austin_2006.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wesley_church_austin_2006.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40970259","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesley_United_Methodist_Church_(Austin,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7984016"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/travis-county/wesley-united-methodist-church-85002281/"}