{"nrhp_refnum":"86003581","name":"Church of the Good Shepherd","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"511--519 Oak St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Thomasville","county":"Thomas County","state":"GA","lat":30.83974474300004,"lon":-83.98802919699995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of three wood-framed buildings (a church, an attached parish hall and a vicarage) at 511-519 Oak Street in Thomasville, Thomas County, Georgia. The church was built in 1894, the parish hall around 1896 and the vicarage in 1908.","why_significant":"The complex is a good example of late-Victorian vernacular church architecture built for a small black Episcopal congregation in southwest Georgia. It is tied to one of Georgia's few black Episcopal congregations, a parochial school that ran from 1894 to 1964, and a wider role in Thomasville's black community. It was found significant under Criteria A and C at the local level.","narrative":"Three wood-framed buildings on Oak Street in Thomasville's western residential section make up the Church of the Good Shepherd complex: a church, an attached two-story parish hall forming a U-shaped group, and a one-story vicarage. The church dates from 1894, the parish hall from around 1896, and the vicarage from 1908. Simple late-Victorian detailing includes gable-end shingles, pointed-arched stained-glass windows, wainscoting and tongue-and-groove ceilings with exposed beams. The congregation was organized in 1893 under Reverend Charles LeRoche of Saint Thomas Church and was one of Georgia's few black Episcopal congregations, with both black and white members. Its parochial school operated from 1894 to 1964 and, until public schooling for black children began in 1901, was one of fewer than a half dozen private schools educating them in the city. The complex also housed a library, playground and Boy Scout troop. It was listed for its architecture and for its role in local religion, education and black history.","period_of_significance":"1894-1923","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Late-Victorian vernacular","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Listed as occupied and in religious use; condition is given as good and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.129634-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/86003581.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003581/55ab75f62a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003581/55ab75f62a-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.5","author":"Ebyabe","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomasville_GA_Good_Shepherd01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Ebyabe</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomasville_GA_Good_Shepherd01.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"01000500","name":"Stevens Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/georgia/stevens-street-historic-district-01000500/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93209623","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Good_Shepherd_(Thomasville,_Georgia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30604062"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/thomas-county/church-of-the-good-shepherd-86003581/"}