The revitalization of All Saints’, Warrenton, recently took a major step forward when it was approved by the State National Register Advisory Committee to be put forward for inclusion on the National Registry of Historic Places.
The nomination was submitted by Heather Slane of HMW Preservation and reviewed by the staff of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), who deemed All Saints’ a building that meets the criteria for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. The SHPO then presented their recommendation to the State National Register Advisory Committee at their June 12 meeting, where the nomination was unanimously approved by the advisory committee.
As explained on the HMW Preservation website, “The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archaeology, engineering, and culture. Properties listed on the National Register may be significant at the national, state, or local level. Historic districts, as defined by the National Register of Historic Places, are ‘geographically definable areas – urban or rural, large or small – possessing a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, and/or objects united by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development.’”
All Saints’ is a historically Black church in the Diocese of North Carolina, whose congregational doors closed in 2018. Since then, the All Saints’ Revisioning Committee has been working to preserve the church and usher in its new life as a centerpiece in the Warrenton community.
“All Saints’, Warrenton, holds a significant place in the history of the Diocese of North Carolina, and its roots reach across The Episcopal Church,” said the Rev. Dr. Brooks Graebner, historiographer for the Diocese of North Carolina and a member of the All Saints’ Revisioning Committee. “It is still a sacred space at the heart of both its local and the diocesan community. Potentially, the single most important aspect of this nomination is that it specifies All Saints’, Warrenton, as a building of national significance.”
On June 24, the SHPO staff submitted the nomination in its final form to the National Park Service for final approval. The National Park Service has 45 days to review the nomination and make their final determination; the hope is to hear the decision by summer’s end.
Photo by Dru York
