{"nrhp_refnum":"01000575","name":"First Methodist Episcopal Church of Parksville","other_names":["Parksville United Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"10 Short Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Parksville","county":"Sullivan County","state":"NY","lat":41.85592685100005,"lon":-74.75862400599993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2001-05-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story wood-frame Methodist church built in 1898 at 10 Short Avenue in the hamlet of Parksville, Sullivan County, New York, together with a one and one-half acre community cemetery southwest of the church.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be a distinctive, highly intact example of late Victorian ecclesiastical architecture and of the Akron plan church type favored by Methodist congregations, adapted for a small rural parish. Its original interior, platform furniture and opalescent windows survive. The adjacent cemetery served as the hamlet's only burial ground and documents Parksville's growth from about 1850 to 1949.","narrative":"Built in 1898 on Short Avenue in the Sullivan County hamlet of Parksville, this small wood-frame Methodist church follows the Akron plan, a layout popular with late nineteenth-century Methodist congregations. A square corner entrance tower sits where the front and side gables meet, and lancet-arched windows and a modest vergeboard reflect Gothic Revival influence. Inside, a sanctuary is divided from a Sunday school wing by folding glass doors that can be opened to form a single space. The interior remains largely original, including curved pews, a raised platform with lectern, reading table, chair and organ, kerosene lamps, and opalescent glass windows. Construction cost $2,493, raised through subscriptions, and the church was dedicated in June 1898. No architect or builder is recorded. A cemetery southwest of the church holds about two hundred burials from about 1850 to 1949 and served as the hamlet's only burial ground. Together they document the community's resort-era development and religious life.","period_of_significance":"c1850-c1949","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian (Gothic Revival details; Akron plan)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Still an active church holding services every two weeks; the interior is described as intact, with a 1990 rear addition and a handicapped-access ramp.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.957876-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/01000575.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000575/03f9beac28-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/01000575/03f9beac28-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_of_Parksville_Apr_11.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, New York, United States</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_of_Parksville_Apr_11.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322357","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_of_Parksville","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453322"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/sullivan-county/first-methodist-episcopal-church-of-parksville-01000575/"}