{"nrhp_refnum":"03000596","name":"Reformed Mennonite Church, Former","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"5178 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Williamsville","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.96083936200006,"lon":-78.75942719399995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2003-07-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A former Reformed Mennonite church at 5178 Main Street in Williamsville, Town of Amherst, Erie County, New York, built about 1834 as a one-story limestone meeting house in a simple vernacular Greek Revival manner.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a rare surviving example of an unadorned early nineteenth century religious building in western New York. It is described as the oldest religious building in the Town of Amherst and Erie County, and the only Reformed Mennonite church in the county. Its austere design reflects Mennonite traditions of simplicity, and the ca. 1880 remodeling retains a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Built about 1834 at the corner of Main Street and North Forest Road in Williamsville, this small limestone building served a growing Mennonite congregation for nearly a century and a half. Its walls are locally quarried Onondaga limestone with corner quoins, a gabled roof with cornice returns, and tall nine-over-nine windows under flat stone arches. Inside is a single open worship room with plain wainscot and plaster walls. A frame addition of about 1880 added separate coatrooms when membership reached 130, and a small addition followed around 1953. The congregation, founded by Rev. John Herr about 1828, used the building until 1981, and the Town of Amherst bought it in 1985 for archive and office use. It is recognized as the oldest religious building in Erie County and a rare, intact example of plain early nineteenth century church architecture reflecting Mennonite simplicity.","period_of_significance":"ca. 1834-1881","architect_builder":"Unknown (Mennonite William Beach worked on construction as carpenter and mason)","architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century/Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Used historically for worship until 1981; sold to the Town of Amherst in 1985 and now used as a town archive center and government office.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.695933-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/03000596.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000596/7635be4b0b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/03000596/7635be4b0b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Andre Carrotflower","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evans_Bank_-_fmr_Reformed_Mennonite_Church_of_Williamsville,_Amherst_Town_Archives_-_Amherst,_New_York_-_20200622.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Andre Carrotflower</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Evans_Bank_-_fmr_Reformed_Mennonite_Church_of_Williamsville,_Amherst_Town_Archives_-_Amherst,_New_York_-_20200622.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317679","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Former_Reformed_Mennonite_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5470117"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/reformed-mennonite-church-former-03000596/"}