{"nrhp_refnum":"89001809","name":"Big Spring Baptist Church","other_names":["First Baptist Church","60-435"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"VA 631, 0.1 mi. E of US 460/11","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elliston","county":"Montgomery County","state":"VA","lat":37.21548452600007,"lon":-80.22480699999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1989-11-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A nave-plan frame church with a three-stage tower and an associated cemetery, on a hill above Elliston, Montgomery County, Virginia. It dates to about 1880 and was built by Elliston builder Joseph Pepper.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is an important landmark in the local black community and an unusually well-developed example of the regionally popular nave-plan church. It was the first black church in Elliston and was organized with support from Captain Charles Schaeffer of the Christiansburg Institute. It is one of the largest and most sophisticated of thirteen identified churches from the period in the county.","narrative":"Big Spring Baptist Church sits on an open hilltop above Elliston in Montgomery County, Virginia. Built around 1880 by local builder Joseph Pepper, it is a frame building with a high gable roof, pointed-arch windows and doors, a central three-stage tower, and a projecting baptistry at the rear. Inside are an Eastlake-style pulpit, Gothic altar furniture and a circular stained-glass window showing St. John baptizing Christ. A cemetery on the hilltop holds the graves of most of the area's black families. It was the first black church in Elliston, organized with support from Captain Charles Schaeffer, a northern Quaker educator linked to the Christiansburg Institute. Its tower and arched windows set it apart from the plain, box-like rural churches common in the region, and it is considered one of the county's most substantial black churches. It was recognized for its role in the black community and for its architecture, despite later aluminum siding and small additions.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1880","architect_builder":"Pepper, Joseph, builder","architectural_style":"Nave plan","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still used as a church, with a carefully maintained cemetery. Aluminum siding has been applied and small additions made.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.778741-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/40/6788/41678840/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/89001809.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001809/f3ea0caab3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/89001809/f3ea0caab3-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Skye Marthaler","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Big_Spring_Baptist_Church_-_Front_View.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Skye Marthaler</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:Big_Spring_Baptist_Church_-_Front_View.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41678840","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Spring_Baptist_Church_(Elliston,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14712027"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/montgomery-county/big-spring-baptist-church-89001809/"}