{"nrhp_refnum":"96000566","name":"Church of the Incarnation","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"111 N. 5th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Highlands","county":"Macon County","state":"NC","lat":35.05212305500004,"lon":-83.19561886499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-05-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story frame Episcopal church at Main and Fifth streets in downtown Highlands, Macon County, North Carolina, built in 1896 by W.B. McGuire, with a 1981 parish-life addition attached.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be significant for social history as an early Episcopal mission in far western North Carolina and part of Highlands' development as a resort town. It is also significant as a simplified small-parish example of late nineteenth-century Gothic Revival church architecture. Despite later additions, the original church still conveys its 1896 mission character.","narrative":"Standing on a corner lot in downtown Highlands, this small frame Episcopal church was completed in the summer of 1896 by builder W.B. McGuire of the Franklin Furniture Company. It began as a mission of the Reverend John A. Deal, who rode a circuit through far western North Carolina, and much of its $2,032 construction cost came from northern congregations. Highlands had been founded in 1875 as a resort town, and the church reflects the founders' wish to give visitors and residents a religious presence. The building has a steep gable roof, a square entrance tower with an open octagonal belfry, a polygonal apse, weatherboard siding and a poplar-sheathed interior with an exposed scissor truss. A 1981 addition containing offices, classrooms and a parish hall adjoins it but remains clearly distinct. The church was listed for its role in local social history and as a modest, simplified example of Gothic Revival design.","period_of_significance":"1896-1946","architect_builder":"McGuire, W.B.","architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still an active parish church in religious use, with a 1981 addition housing offices, Sunday School rooms and a parish hall.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:57:49.575117-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/42/7211/47721142/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NC/96000566.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000566/ddba289673-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96000566/ddba289673-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Brian Williams (bw7495)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church_of_the_Incarnation,_111_N._5th_St,_Highlands,_NC.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Brian Williams (bw7495)</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:Church_of_the_Incarnation,_111_N._5th_St,_Highlands,_NC.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/47721142","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Incarnation_(Highlands,_North_Carolina)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5117972"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/north-carolina/macon-county/church-of-the-incarnation-96000566/"}