{"nrhp_refnum":"02000361","name":"First Congregational Church of New Village","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"N. side of Middle Country Rd. W. of Elliot Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lake Grove","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.85969331200005,"lon":-73.10981780499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-04-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, gable-front, timber-framed wood-shingled meeting house built in 1818 on the north side of Middle Country Road in Lake Grove (formerly West Middle Island, later New Village), Suffolk County, New York, with an associated cemetery.","why_significant":"It is nominated as an unadorned early-19th-century wood-framed meeting house of the New England and Long Island type, with a high degree of material and design integrity. It also represents the earliest settlement period of central Brookhaven and a cooperative effort by Congregational, Presbyterian and Baptist residents to meet spiritual and social needs in a sparsely settled farming community.","narrative":"Built in 1818 on land donated by Deacon Wheeler, this two-story timber-framed meeting house on Middle Country Road in Lake Grove was erected as a union church shared by Congregational, Presbyterian and Baptist worshippers in the farming hamlet then called West Middle Island. The subscription list divided use of the building among the three groups. The church takes its present name from 1845. Its plain form follows the New England meeting house tradition: a gabled, shingle-clad body, three regular bays, 8-over-12 windows, simple pews and a three-sided gallery on turned posts. Changes were few. A renovation in 1853-54 lowered the roof pitch, enclosed the entry stairs and added an attic window, and a bell tower was added in 1927 to hold a donated memorial bell. The building keeps its Federal-style entry surround. Its cemetery, with a first burial in 1819, lies behind it. Today the building serves as a local history museum operated by the Town of Brookhaven.","period_of_significance":"1818-1927","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Federal","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Now used as a local history museum by the Town of Brookhaven; the associated cemetery is in separate ownership. The form describes it as having a very high degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.360568-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02000361.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000361/13b61a1e8f-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000361/13b61a1e8f-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":null,"credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Congregational_Church,_Centereach,_Suffolk_County,_NY_HABS_NY,52-CEN,1-1.tif\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Congregational_Church,_Centereach,_Suffolk_County,_NY_HABS_NY,52-CEN,1-1.tif"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322106","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Congregational_Church_of_New_Village","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452855"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/first-congregational-church-of-new-village-02000361/"}