{"nrhp_refnum":"02000304","name":"First Methodist Episcopal Church of Tioga Center","other_names":["United Methodist Church of Tioga Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 17C","address_restricted":false,"city":"Tioga","county":"Tioga County","state":"NY","lat":42.08390994800004,"lon":-76.34771107999995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-04-01","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A frame Methodist church in the hamlet of Tioga Center, town of Tioga, Tioga County, New York, built in 1872-73 on a lot of about .9 acres along Route 17C.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be an intact representative example of a rural vernacular late-nineteenth-century church in upstate New York. It is a significant Tioga County example of Victorian eclecticism, combining Romanesque Revival and Second Empire elements. It is the largest and most prominent building in the hamlet, and its tall spire makes it a visual landmark.","narrative":"Standing in the middle of the small hamlet of Tioga Center, this frame church was built in 1872-73 and dedicated in June 1873. It replaced an earlier church completed in 1828 by a Methodist congregation organized in 1809. The building has a gabled nave, a small projecting apse, and a two-story front pavilion with a square tower topped by a louvered belfry and slender spire. Walls are clapboard over a cut stone foundation. Its design mixes Romanesque Revival proportions with Second Empire details, reflecting the Victorian taste for eclecticism. A similar frame Methodist church in Dryden is listed, but few others are known in the eastern Southern Tier. Inside, the sanctuary keeps its plaster walls, coved ceiling, rear balcony on iron columns and choir loft. The church is the largest and most prominent building in the hamlet and remains an active congregation. A recent rear addition replaced a mid-twentieth-century one.","period_of_significance":"1873","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Gothic; Victorian eclecticism combining Romanesque Revival and Second Empire elements","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still an active church with about 100 members, a Sunday school and a full-time pastor; a new rear addition providing handicapped access and community space was recently completed.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.039335-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02000304.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000304/5530faa6ee-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000304/5530faa6ee-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_of_Tioga_Center_May_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, 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_Tioga_Center_May_09.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322435","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_of_Tioga_Center","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453326"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/tioga-county/first-methodist-episcopal-church-of-tioga-center-02000304/"}