{"nrhp_refnum":"98000695","name":"First Presbyterian Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"406 Avenue A","address_restricted":false,"city":"Palestine","county":"Anderson County","state":"TX","lat":31.76273660000004,"lon":-95.62917633199999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-06-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Gothic Revival church at 406 Avenue A in Palestine, Anderson County, Texas, built in 1887-1888 for the First Presbyterian congregation, with later additions.","why_significant":"The church is nominated at the local level under Criterion C as an outstanding example of late 19th century Gothic Revival ecclesiastical architecture, with Italianate and Romanesque Revival elements. Only 13 pre-1945 churches were identified in Palestine, and apart from Sacred Heart Catholic Church it is the city's premier example of church architecture. It was also among the city's most finely detailed buildings when completed in 1888.","narrative":"Brick walls, pointed-arched windows, buttresses and steep gables give this church at 406 Avenue A in Palestine its Gothic Revival character, with Italianate and Romanesque Revival details mixed in. The congregation was organized in 1849 and is the city's oldest church building to have continuously served a single congregation. After outgrowing its first building, it bought the Avenue A lot in 1887 and finished the new church the next year. Waco architect W.C. Dodson designed it, and Joseph Wolff made the bricks from local clay. A silver spire designed by C.S. Maffitt was added in 1890. A Sunday School auditorium and pastor's study followed in 1900, a rear educational wing around 1905, and a one-story education wing in 1973. The church was listed for its architecture. It is described as Palestine's premier example of ecclesiastical design apart from Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and it remains in religious use.","period_of_significance":"1887-1888; 1890; 1900; c. 1905","architect_builder":"Dodson & Dudley, architect (1888); Wolff, Joseph F., builder (1888); Maffitt, Cicero S., architect (1890); Scott, G.T., builder (1890)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Second Gothic Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a religious facility, as listed in the current functions.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:23.664689-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/66/9678/40967866/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/98000695.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000695/16e88bc29e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000695/16e88bc29e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Billy Hathorn","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Presbyterian_Church,_Palestine,_TX_IMG_2338.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Billy Hathorn</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:First_Presbyterian_Church,_Palestine,_TX_IMG_2338.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40967866","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Presbyterian_Church_(Palestine,_Texas)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453615"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/anderson-county/first-presbyterian-church-98000695/"}