{"nrhp_refnum":"86002478","name":"Webster Chapel United Methodist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"405 S. Wheeler","address_restricted":false,"city":"Victoria","county":"Victoria County","state":"TX","lat":28.79477800500007,"lon":-97.00384093199995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-12-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black"],"significance_levels":["state","local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Gothic Revival wood-frame church at 405 S. Wheeler in the Diamond Hill neighborhood of Victoria, Texas, first built in 1889 and remodeled in 1951 with brick veneer.","why_significant":"The congregation was founded soon after the Civil War for newly freed slaves. Despite extensive alterations, the church remains an extremely important landmark to Victoria's Black community. The reviewer accepted it under Criterion A for its local significance to that community.","narrative":"Webster Chapel United Methodist Church is a Gothic Revival church at 405 S. Wheeler in Victoria, Texas, in the Diamond Hill neighborhood of the original townsite's southeast quadrant. Its congregation was founded soon after the Civil War for newly freed slaves, and the first sanctuary was built in 1889. The wood-frame building has a rectangular plan, a gable roof with cross-gables on the tower, exposed carved rafter ends, and double-hung wood windows with lancet-arched upper sashes. A small gabled porch covers the double entry on the east elevation. In 1951 the church was remodeled with brick veneer over the original weatherboard. The spire atop the steeple has been lost, but the cross-gabled, splayed base of the steeple still conveys the vertical emphasis of the original design, and the interior plan and details are unchanged. Although altered, the building remains an important landmark to Victoria's Black community and continues to serve as a church.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Present condition is good; remodeled in 1951 with brick veneer. The spire atop the steeple is gone, but the interior details and plan are unchanged. Still in religious use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.113607-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/85/9705/40970585/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/86002478.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002478/2eef945dd2-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86002478/2eef945dd2-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"ProfReader","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Webster_Chapel.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">ProfReader</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:Webster_Chapel.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40970585","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webster_Chapel_United_Methodist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7978901"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/victoria-county/webster-chapel-united-methodist-church-86002478/"}