{"nrhp_refnum":"95001564","name":"Carswell Grove Baptist Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Big Buckhead Rd. off US 25/GA 21","address_restricted":false,"city":"Perkins","county":"Jenkins County","state":"GA","lat":32.90209772700007,"lon":-82.02365040399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-01-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Black","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A rural Baptist church building and adjoining cemetery about two miles south of Perkins in Jenkins County, Georgia. The wood-framed Gothic Revival church was built in 1919, and the cemetery was begun around 1870.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the property is significant for its architecture, as a very intact example of an early 20th-century wood-framed rural church with two front towers and Gothic Revival details. It is also significant for African American and religious history, as the institution that served the rural Black community of Carswell Grove since the congregation formed in 1867.","narrative":"Carswell Grove Baptist Church and Cemetery sits on Big Buckhead Road, about two miles south of Perkins in Jenkins County, Georgia. The wood-framed church, built in 1919 after an earlier building burned, has a front-gabled roof, weatherboard siding, a brick foundation and two square towers with pyramidal roofs on the front facade. Pointed-arch windows, drip-molds and a scalloped raking cornice give it Gothic Revival character. Inside, the open sanctuary keeps its historic pews and original beaded boards. The congregation organized in 1867 after separating from the white congregation of Big Buckhead Baptist Church, and land for the church was given by Judge John Wright Carswell, for whom it is named. The cemetery began around 1870 and holds several former ministers. The property was recognized for its architecture and for its role in the African American and religious life of the Carswell Grove community, where the congregation remains active.","period_of_significance":"c.1870-1919","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Gothic (Gothic Revival)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Church remains in religious use with an active congregation; the building is described as extremely intact with only minor changes.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.585496-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/95001564.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001564/c920cec838-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95001564/c920cec838-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jud McCranie","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Site_of_original_Carswell_Grove_church_and_Cemetery,_Jenkins_County,_GA,_US.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jud McCranie</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Site_of_original_Carswell_Grove_church_and_Cemetery,_Jenkins_County,_GA,_US.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93208739","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carswell_Grove_Baptist_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q30622510"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/jenkins-county/carswell-grove-baptist-church-and-cemetery-95001564/"}