FREE WILL BAPTIST CHURCH

1939 (H. Lee Waters - State Archives of NC) - made from multiple screen captures, thus the unfortunate mostly disembodied man. (His left hand is at the extreme left of the picture.)

Per the National Register Nomination:

Constructed as a store, then modified into a residence and later a church, this one-story, front-gabled, frame building has plain weatherboards and arched, two-over-two, wood-sash windows. Windows on the right (south) elevation have peaked, molded surrounds. The rear three bays, likely added later, have six-over-six wood-sash windows and there are low, shed-roofed dormers over the rear two bays of the building. A projecting gabled entrance on the front of the building is flanked by four-over-four windows and has double-leaf two-panel doors sheltered by a shed roof on small braces on its right (south) elevation. This gabled entrance partially obscures a square steeple centered in the front gable. The steeple has diamond-shaped cutouts near the top and a pyramidal roof with integrated cross. Double-leaf, six-panel doors near the rear (east) of the right elevation are sheltered by a shed-roof supported by braces and there is an exterior brick chimney to its right. There is a low shed-roofed, plywood-sheathed utility wing on the left (north) elevation. An original tin roof was replaced with asphalt shingle in 2000. The building appears as a store on the 1911 and 1924 Sanborn maps. According to Bellinger, it was a hot dog stand in the 1920s and a residence in the 1930s, when the Craftsman-style addition at the rear was constructed. The building is shown as the Freewill Baptist Church on the 1943 Sanborn map.

1924 Sanborn Map

1943 Sanborn

I'm not sure I buy the conclusion that this church was an adaptive reuse of the store present on the 1924 Sanborn map - the form is quite different, and you can see the fidelity of the forms from 1924 to 1943 in the surrounding buildings. The present (and 1943) form of this building is very similar to other late 19th and early 20th century Free Will Baptist churches.

My guess would be that the 1924 store building was either demolished or moved, and the church building is a replacement - perhaps moved from another location farther out of town to here.

07.31.2016 (G. Kueber)