{"nrhp_refnum":"00001290","name":"Waits Methodist Episcopal Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Waite Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Owego","county":"Tioga County","state":"NY","lat":42.00759060000007,"lon":-76.26860690099994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2000-11-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-a-half-story wood-frame Methodist meeting house and adjoining cemetery on Waite Road in the Town of Owego, Tioga County, New York, built in 1853 in the Greek Revival style.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be significant under Criterion A for its link to the growth of the small agricultural hamlet of Waits, and under Criterion C as a largely unaltered example of vernacular Greek Revival architecture. It is the only surviving nineteenth-century building in a hamlet that has otherwise vanished. The cemetery holds the grave of Henry Wait, the community's founder.","narrative":"Set on a hillside on Waite Road in the Town of Owego, this one-and-a-half-story wood church and its small adjoining cemetery are the last surviving nineteenth-century structures of the farming hamlet of Waits. Built in 1853 on an acre donated by Henry Wait, Jr., the church follows a design attributed to Henry Dunham and a Mr. Orcutt. It is a vernacular Greek Revival meeting house with a pedimented front gable, Doric corner pilasters, a wide molded frieze and a shouldered entrance surround. A small bell tower rises from the roof ridge. Inside, a balcony was converted to a dining area for the Ladies Aid Society during repairs in 1866, and the interior remains largely intact. The congregation used the building until 1960, and the Waits Cemetery Association has cared for it since. The cemetery holds Civil War veterans and Henry Wait, who founded the settlement in 1819. The property was listed for its tie to the hamlet's development and for its architecture.","period_of_significance":"1853-1866","architect_builder":"Dunham, Henry; Orcutt","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century; Greek Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Retired from active religious service in 1960; maintained by the Waits Cemetery Association and used for special events that draw the local community. The interior is described as relatively intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.453333-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/00001290.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00001290/258c7f98ff-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/00001290/258c7f98ff-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Tkeator","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Waits_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_and_Cemetery.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Tkeator</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:Waits_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_and_Cemetery.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322459","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waits_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7960646"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/tioga-county/waits-methodist-episcopal-church-and-cemetery-00001290/"}