{"nrhp_refnum":"02000546","name":"Williamsville Christian Church","other_names":["Disciples of Christ Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5658 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Williamsville","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.96347170900003,"lon":-78.74216652199993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2002-05-22","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-and-one-half-story, front-gable brick church at 5658 Main Street in Williamsville, Erie County, New York, built in 1871 for the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation. It is now used as the village meeting house and museum.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is significant for architecture. Its Italianate exterior reflects post-Civil War Protestant thinking that favored styles less tied to Gothic church form. About 1900 the interior was remodeled using features of the 'Combination Church Plan' promoted by George Washington Kramer. It was also the first permanent religious structure built in the village.","narrative":"Built in 1871 on Main Street in Williamsville, this red brick church was constructed for a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation that had grown to about 150 members. Its front-gable form, pilaster strips, half-round openings and bracketed eaves follow the Italianate style, which non-liturgical Protestant congregations often preferred to Gothic design. Around 1900 the interior was remodeled with classrooms, sliding partitions, curved pews, art glass windows and an extended mezzanine, reflecting a nationally promoted church plan. The original tower was removed in 1948, and the village rebuilt it in 1997 from pictorial evidence, using some modern substitute materials. The building stands on a one-third-acre parcel amid commercial development along a busy highway. Today it serves as the Village of Williamsville Meeting House and Museum. It was listed for its architecture, with a period of significance centered on about 1871 and a significant remodeling about 1900.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1871","architect_builder":"unknown","architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Victorian Eclectic (Italianate)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Now used as the Village of Williamsville Meeting House and Museum (social/meeting hall); the village rehabilitated it in the 1980s and 1990s, including a reconstructed tower in 1997.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.05919-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/02000546.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000546/69c75de890-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/02000546/69c75de890-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Upstate New York","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Williamsville_Christian_Church_Nov_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Upstate New York</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:Williamsville_Christian_Church_Nov_09.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317739","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Williamsville_Christian_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8021322"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/williamsville-christian-church-02000546/"}