{"nrhp_refnum":"97000336","name":"Gillespie-Selden Historic District","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Roughly bounded by Railroad, 10th, and 15th Sts., and 16th Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cordele","county":"Crisp County","state":"GA","lat":31.963532536500054,"lon":-83.79101290482464,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-12-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Education","Architecture","Religion","Health/Medicine","Community Planning and Development"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A historic district of about 42 acres in southwest Cordele, Crisp County, Georgia, covering a historically African-American neighborhood of houses, churches, corner stores and the Gillespie-Selden Institute campus, developed from about 1890 to 1949.","why_significant":"The district is argued to be a good representative example of an urban African-American neighborhood shaped by segregation, with schools, churches, a hospital and stores forming its core. It is also tied to Dr. Augustus Clark and St. Paul Presbyterian Church, which founded the school and hospital. Its houses and landmark buildings are described as representative examples of late 19th- and early 20th-century architecture.","narrative":"Southwest of downtown Cordele, this neighborhood of roughly 42 acres grew from about 1890 as a community for African-American residents, many of them railroad laborers. Its low-lying site beside the tracks was considered undesirable by white settlers, and segregation led residents to build their own schools, churches, stores and a hospital. Most buildings are one-story wood houses in modest types such as saddlebag, pyramid cottage and bungalow. The centerpiece is the Gillespie-Selden Institute, begun around 1902 by Dr. Augustus Clark and his wife, Anna, of St. Paul Presbyterian Church, with northern Presbyterian donations. It grew to include a hospital, nursing school, dormitories and an administration building, and merged with the Selden Institute of Brunswick in 1933. The school closed in 1956, and the campus now offers day-care and community outreach. Four early 20th-century churches anchor major intersections. The district is recognized for its ethnic heritage, education, medicine, religion, community development and architecture.","period_of_significance":"c.1890-1949","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Colonial Revival, Craftsman, Folk Victorian, and vernacular house types (saddlebag, pyramid cottage, shotgun, central hallway, gable ell, bungalow, Georgian cottage, American Foursquare, Queen Anne cottage)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"The neighborhood remains densely developed and largely African-American. The former institute is now used for day-care and community outreach, though some historic building stock and corner stores have been lost.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:43.552913-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_GA/97000336.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/93207712","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillespie-Selden_Historic_District","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q111938602"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/georgia/crisp-county/gillespie-selden-historic-district-97000336/"}