{"nrhp_refnum":"88000214","name":"Huguenot Memorial Chapel and Monument","other_names":["Manakin Church","VDHL File 72-93"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 711","address_restricted":false,"city":"Manakin","county":"Powhatan County","state":"VA","lat":37.56498254300004,"lon":-77.70882228699998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-03-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["European"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small wood-frame Gothic Revival chapel built in 1895, with a granite Huguenot memorial monument erected in 1936, on VA Route 711 at Manakin in Powhatan County, Virginia. The chapel has been moved twice and now sits on land owned by the Huguenot society.","why_significant":"The chapel and monument recall the 1700 Manakin settlement, the largest Huguenot settlement in colonial America, and the ethnic heritage of Huguenot descendants. The chapel is believed to contain the nation's oldest surviving architectural fragment of a Huguenot building, a beam possibly from the ca. 1710 church. It also stands near the site of the first Huguenot church and has long been a focus of Huguenot tradition. The monument reflects the commemorative values of the generation that dedicated it in 1937.","narrative":"Set in a wooded area off Route 711 in Manakin, this simple white weatherboarded chapel was built in 1895 for the parish that began as a refuge for French Protestants in 1700. It measures about 24 by 32 feet and has a steep gable roof, pointed windows and a three-sided projecting narthex. Inside are reused timbers, including a large charred beam that may come from the church of about 1710, which would make it the oldest surviving fragment of a Huguenot building in the country. Some 300 feet north stands a granite monument with a Huguenot cross, carved by Lawson and Newton of Norfolk and dedicated in 1937 by the Society of the Founders of Manakin. The chapel was moved in 1954 and again in 1985 so it could be preserved as a memorial and museum. Together the two resources commemorate the largest Huguenot settlement in colonial America and the descendants who kept its memory alive.","period_of_significance":"1895-1937","architect_builder":"Church: unknown; Marker: Lawson and Newton","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revival: Late Gothic Revival (modified Gothic Revival)","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"The chapel has been carefully rehabilitated since its 1985 move and is in excellent condition. It is maintained as a Huguenot memorial and museum.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:59.658875-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/54/6826/41682654/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/88000214.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000214/e929286821-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88000214/e929286821-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"James Shelton32","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Manakin_Huguenot_Church-001.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">James Shelton32</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:Manakin_Huguenot_Church-001.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41682654","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huguenot_Memorial_Chapel_and_Monument","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5934707"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/powhatan-county/huguenot-memorial-chapel-and-monument-88000214/"}