{"nrhp_refnum":"86003718","name":"Franklin Presbyterian Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"45 Church St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Franklin","county":"Macon County","state":"NC","lat":35.182623858000056,"lon":-83.38381007699996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1987-02-05","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A red brick Greek Revival church building at 45 Church Street in Franklin, Macon County, North Carolina, built about 1856 on a ridge north of the Little Tennessee River. It is now joined to a 1948 school and office addition and a 1970s sanctuary.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is architecturally significant as a rare antebellum brick church in western North Carolina. It is the oldest brick building in Macon County and one of the oldest in the region. It survives basically intact despite later additions.","narrative":"Built about 1856, this red brick church at 45 Church Street in Franklin, North Carolina, is the oldest brick building in Macon County and one of the oldest in western North Carolina. It is a modest, vernacular Greek Revival temple-form building, roughly fifty by thirty-six feet, made of hand-made brick laid in American bond. A gable roof extends over the south front to form a portico with four eight-sided wood columns. Trustees Curtis Sanders, Jackson Johnston, Zebulon Thomas and James G. Gray bought the lot in 1856, after a congregation organized in 1833 had lapsed and then revived. The interior was renovated in the 1940s, with new pews, flooring and a rebuilt belfry, and the original bell remains. A two-story school and office building was added in 1948, and a contemporary sanctuary seating 400 followed in the 1970s. The old church survives basically intact and is valued as a rare antebellum brick church in its region.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1856","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular Greek Revival, temple form","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in good condition, in religious use; the form notes alterations such as 1940s renovations and later additions.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:50.363168-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/12/7211/47721112/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/86003718.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003718/1501559553-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86003718/1501559553-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Blastoids","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Franklin_Presbyterian_Church.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Blastoids</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:Franklin_Presbyterian_Church.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721112","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Presbyterian_Church_(Franklin,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5491767"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/macon-county/franklin-presbyterian-church-86003718/"}