{"nrhp_refnum":"91001083","name":"St. John's Episcopal Church","other_names":["DHR File No. 128-236","See Also:Southwest Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Jefferson St. and Elm Ave., SW corner","address_restricted":false,"city":"Roanoke (Independent City)","county":"Roanoke (city and county)","state":"VA","lat":37.26674702500003,"lon":-79.94131691099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-08-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Gothic-style Episcopal church at the southwest corner of Jefferson Street and Elm Avenue in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, built in 1891-92 to designs by Philadelphia architect Charles M. Burns, with a 1923 Parish House and later additions.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be significant under Criterion A (Religion) as the largest and most prosperous Episcopal congregation in Southwest Virginia and the location of the Diocese of Southwestern Virginia offices from 1919 to 1949. Under Criterion C (Architecture) it is considered the largest and finest example of nineteenth-century ecclesiological design in Southwest Virginia.","narrative":"St. John's Episcopal Church occupies a corner in downtown Roanoke, Virginia, at the eastern edge of the Southwest Historic District. Built in 1891-92 from blue-gray limestone with red sandstone trim, it follows the form of a medieval English parish church, with a gabled nave, side aisles, a crenelated corner bell tower and a hammerbeam roof inside. Stained glass includes work by the J. and R. Lamb Studio and a window by Louis C. Tiffany. Philadelphia architect Charles M. Burns designed it, and a 1923 brick Tudor-style Parish House, a 1958 stone addition, a 1978 chapel and a 1987 columbarium were added later. The congregation grew with Roanoke's rapid urban growth to become the largest Episcopal parish in Southwestern Virginia, and the diocesan offices were housed here from 1919 to 1949. The building is valued as the region's most sophisticated nineteenth-century Gothic church.","period_of_significance":"1891-1941","architect_builder":"Charles Marquedant Burns (architect); William Churchill Noland (resident architect); Frederick James Amweg (builder); Edward T. Boggs (architect) and J. P. Pettyjohn (builder) for the 1923 Parish House; Smithey & Boynton (1958 addition)","architectural_style":"Gothic; Tudor Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a church, with a meditation garden and columbarium; the entry in the bell tower has been converted to an oratory.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:00.43844-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/23/6833/41683323/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_VA/91001083.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001083/1076403874-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001083/1076403874-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Patriarca12","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._Johns_Episcopal_Church_Roanoke,_Virginia.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Patriarca12</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:St._Johns_Episcopal_Church_Roanoke,_Virginia.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/41683323","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John%27s_Episcopal_Church_(Roanoke,_Virginia)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15694143"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/virginia/roanoke/st-johns-episcopal-church-91001083/"}