{"nrhp_refnum":"93000097","name":"First Methodist Episcopal Church South, Old","other_names":["Site No. 735"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"200 N. Fulton","address_restricted":false,"city":"Wharton","county":"Wharton County","state":"TX","lat":29.31286586400006,"lon":-96.09873808899994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1993-03-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story Classical Revival brick church at 200 North Fulton Street in Wharton, Wharton County, Texas, built in 1927 for the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.","why_significant":"The building is presented as an excellent example of Classical Revival architecture and the finest ecclesiastical building in Wharton. It is also one of a few remaining brick churches in the town dating from before 1942, and it retains a high degree of integrity despite a later addition.","narrative":"Located at 200 North Fulton Street in Wharton, this two-story brick church was built in 1927 in the Classical Revival style. It replaced earlier sanctuaries on the site: a frame church from after 1887 was destroyed by a hurricane in 1909, and a concrete block building erected in 1910 burned in 1925. The west facade has a three-bay pedimented portico with wooden colossal fluted Corinthian columns, and leaded art glass fills the large round-arched windows along the sides. A brick parapet hides the hipped roof, and a one-story classroom addition was made around 1940. The Methodist congregation used the building until 1972, when it was conveyed to the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, which still worships there. It was listed for its architecture, as the finest church building in Wharton and one of few brick churches in town predating 1942. The architect and builder are not identified.","period_of_significance":"1927","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Classical Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a place of worship by the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church, which received the building in 1972.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:21.684254-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/18/9707/40970718/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/93000097.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000097/44b67536fb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/93000097/44b67536fb-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 4.0","author":"Larry D. Moore","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_South.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Larry D. Moore</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_South.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40970718","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_South","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083982"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/wharton-county/first-methodist-episcopal-church-south-old-93000097/"}