{"nrhp_refnum":"86000030","name":"First Congregational Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Corner of Wade and C Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mount Pleasant","county":"Cabarrus County","state":"NC","lat":35.39928873300005,"lon":-80.42759466099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-01-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story stone-veneered Gothic-influenced church on a 1.3-acre lot at the northwest corner of Wade and C Streets in Mount Pleasant, Cabarrus County, North Carolina, built 1918-1921 by stonemason and deacon Robert Franklin Lynn, assisted by Calvin Bost.","why_significant":"The nomination ties the church to the evangelical and missionary work of the New England-based Congregational Church and the American Missionary Association among newly freed Black people. It is also associated with missionary J.C. McClean, the Rev. A.J. Tate and builder Robert Franklin Lynn. It is argued to embody vernacular construction with Gothic Revival traits, a popular church form in Cabarrus County before 1930.","narrative":"This small stone church sits on a 1.3-acre lot at Wade and C Streets in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina. It was built between 1918 and 1921 by Robert Franklin Lynn, a local stonemason and deacon, with help from Calvin Bost, after fire destroyed the congregation's 1906 frame building in January 1918. The walls are irregular, mortared, random-coursed stone, with weatherboard on the gables and belfry. Raised buttresses between lancet-arched windows give it Gothic touches. Inside, the original pews, pressed-tin ceiling, plaster and tongue-and-groove wainscoting survive. The congregation was organized in 1900 under missionary J.C. McClean, with the Rev. A.J. Tate as first pastor, and was linked to New England Congregationalists and the American Missionary Association, whose work aided freed Black people. It is an established institution in Mount Pleasant's Black community and has stayed independent of later Congregational mergers. A fellowship hall and bathrooms were added in 1974.","period_of_significance":"1900-","architect_builder":"Robert Franklin Lynn, assisted by Calvin Bost","architectural_style":"Vernacular with Gothic Revival traits","criteria":["A","B","C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a religious building; described as excellent and unaltered, with a congregation of about fifty active members.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:51.079331-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/25/7193/47719325/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/86000030.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000030/3dd6ffb348-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86000030/3dd6ffb348-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FIRST_CONGREGATIONAL_CHURCH,_MT._PLEASANT,_CABARRUS_COUNTY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</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:FIRST_CONGREGATIONAL_CHURCH,_MT._PLEASANT,_CABARRUS_COUNTY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719325","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Congregational_Church_(Mount_Pleasant,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452812"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/cabarrus-county/first-congregational-church-86000030/"}