{"nrhp_refnum":"92000226","name":"First Presbyterian Church","other_names":["1552","First Central Presbyterian Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"402 Orange St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Abilene","county":"Taylor County","state":"TX","lat":32.45349229800007,"lon":-99.73788558599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1992-03-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick Gothic Revival church at 402 Orange Street in Abilene, Taylor County, Texas, built in 1924 for the First Presbyterian congregation, with additions from 1952 and 1976.","why_significant":"It is nominated under Criterion C in the area of Architecture as an exceptional example of Gothic Revival style in Abilene. It is one of the city's oldest churches and the only historic church that retains a high degree of integrity. It also reflects the 1920s building boom, when major religious groups constructed new facilities.","narrative":"Built in 1924 at 402 Orange Street in Abilene, this two-story brick church was erected by the First Presbyterian congregation, which had organized in 1881, two weeks before the city's official founding. Its late Gothic Revival design includes a steeply pitched gable roof with cross gables, a large pointed-arch window with stained and art glass, paired buttresses, a Tudor-arched entrance, and a three-story embattled tower with a stone belfry. The church went up during Abilene's 1920s boom, when Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians all built new facilities. Presbyterians later merged with the Cumberland Presbyterian group, forming the First Central Presbyterian Church in 1970. An education wing was added in 1952 and a new sanctuary in 1976, both considered compatible with the original. The building is recognized for its architecture and is the only historic church in Abilene that retains its integrity to a high degree.","period_of_significance":"1924","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in religious use as First Central Presbyterian Church; the 1952 and 1976 additions are described as compatible with the original building.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.863989-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/44/9700/40970044/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/92000226.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000226/c312d32394-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/92000226/c312d32394-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Crewmom","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Pres_Church_01.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Crewmom</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_Pres_Church_01.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40970044","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Presbyterian_Church_(Abilene,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453533"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/taylor-county/first-presbyterian-church-92000226/"}