{"nrhp_refnum":"91000291","name":"First Presbyterian Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"12 W. Fort St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marion","county":"McDowell County","state":"NC","lat":35.68436459700007,"lon":-82.01265850399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-03-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story brick church with balcony on a raised basement at 12 W. Fort Street in Marion, McDowell County, North Carolina, built in 1923 to designs by Birmingham, Alabama architect James E. Greene.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an outstanding, finely crafted example of Neo-Classical Revival architecture in Marion (Criterion C). It reflects the town's prosperity in the 1920s and remains highly intact inside and out. It replaced the 1847 church, the first built in Marion.","narrative":"Built in 1923 at 12 W. Fort Street in Marion, First Presbyterian Church is a brick Neo-Classical Revival building raised on a knoll above the street. Its most striking feature is a monumental Ionic tetrastyle pedimented portico with a round stained glass window, limestone trim, and a red tile roof. Stained glass fills every window above the basement, and the interior retains a large pipe organ, a pressed tin ceiling, and a curving U-shaped balcony. Birmingham architect James E. Greene designed it, and bricks from the congregation's 1847 Greek Revival church, the first built in Marion, were reused in construction. The congregation grew greatly under Reverend James Cameron Story, which prompted the larger building. A 1955 fire damaged the organ, but little else. The church was listed for its architecture, as an outstanding and largely unaltered example of the style, reflecting the prosperity of Marion in the 1920s.","period_of_significance":"1923","architect_builder":"Greene, James E. (architect)","architectural_style":"Classical Revival (described as Neo-Classical Revival)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a church; the only recent exterior change is one north window replaced with an arched doorway and ramp, and the interior is described as historically intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:50.695469-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/3/7182/47718203/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/91000291.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000291/dfe83e82b5-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91000291/dfe83e82b5-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Upstateherd","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Presbyterian_Church,_Marion,_NC.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Upstateherd</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:First_Presbyterian_Church,_Marion,_NC.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47718203","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Presbyterian_Church_(Marion,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453600"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/mcdowell-county/first-presbyterian-church-91000291/"}