{"nrhp_refnum":"96000563","name":"South River Presbyterian Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NE side of NC 210, 1.7 mi. SE of jct. with US 701","address_restricted":false,"city":"Garland","county":"Bladen County","state":"NC","lat":34.73015880400004,"lon":-78.40065727599995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-05-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, frame Greek Revival Presbyterian church on a knoll in rural eastern Bladen County, North Carolina, about five and four-tenths miles southeast of Garland, with a small cemetery to its south. It was built in 1855 and completed in 1857 with contractor T.A. Parker.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is the most intact Greek Revival example in the county and a premier example of mid-nineteenth-century craftsmanship. It also links the building to the Highland Scottish settlement of the Cape Fear region and the spread of Presbyterianism there. Its original interior, including a slave gallery and original furnishings, is cited as rare.","narrative":"Built in 1855 and completed in March 1857 by contractor T.A. Parker, South River Presbyterian Church is a one-story frame building with a pedimented roof, plain weatherboarding and a broad frieze, set on brick piers in a clearing of pines and oaks near Garland. Its interior retains original pews, a Greek Revival-era pulpit, painted woodwork and a slave gallery reached by a separate stair, a feature the nomination regards as rare. The church is tied to the Highland Scottish settlers who came to the Cape Fear region in the eighteenth century, and to the growth of Presbyterian congregations in Bladen County. Services ended after the death of the last pastor in 1951, and the church is now used mainly for family reunions. Its small cemetery, enclosed by a low wall built in 1935, holds headstones dating from 1845 to 1959.","period_of_significance":"1855-1946","architect_builder":"T.A. Parker, contractor","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Church services were discontinued after 1951 and the church closed; it is now used annually for family reunions and the site is maintained by descendants of the Cromartie family.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:40.928816-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/91/7190/47719091/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/96000563.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000563/d291e9bb09-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000563/d291e9bb09-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_River_Presbyterian_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_River_Presbyterian_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47719091","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_River_Presbyterian_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7568335"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/bladen-county/south-river-presbyterian-church-96000563/"}