National Register of Historic Places
Salem Methodist Church
Franklin vicinity, Macon County, North Carolina
The record
- Listed
- May 8, 2013
- Type
- Building
- Address
- 1201 River Rd., Franklin vicinity
- County
- Macon
- State
- North Carolina
- Contributing resources
- 1 building
- Coordinates
- 35.14886, -83.30732
- Reference number
- 13000247
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.
David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesUSGS Historical Topographic Map CollectionDavid Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford LibrariesBarry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, Stanford Libraries
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
Salem Methodist Church is a Gothic Revival church building at 1201 River Rd. near Franklin, in Macon County, built in 1875, the third building erected for the congregation.
Why it's listed
It was listed in the National Register in 2013 under criterion C and criteria consideration A, with local significance in architecture. Its period of significance is 1875, the year the present building was constructed.
Physical character
The building rests on a foundation of unmortared stone, with weatherboarded walls and a metal roof laid in 5-V crimp sheathing. A square, two-stage bell tower open on all four sides rises over the entrance under a pyramidal metal roof with a finial, and the pointed-arch Gothic windows have dark-stained wood surrounds and louvered shutters. In the 1950s a kitchen was added at the southeast corner and two small restrooms at the northeast corner, and in 1972 the entryway got wood paneling while the kitchen and bathrooms received modern lighting.
Historical context
The congregation belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church South, and its membership fell from 45 in 1928 to 25 in 1931. The Western North Carolina Conference declared the church closed in 1975; the Cullasaja Community Club leased the property in 1976 and received the deed in 2010.