{"nrhp_refnum":"04000987","name":"First Baptist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"6073 East Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Newfane","county":"Niagara County","state":"NY","lat":43.28650187800008,"lon":-78.70794486099999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2004-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-and-one-half story, gable-roofed Greek Revival cobblestone church at 6073 East Avenue in the hamlet of Newfane, Niagara County, New York, built in 1843 with a brick entrance tower added in 1906.","why_significant":"The church is significant for architecture as a substantially intact, representative example of cobblestone construction from the Middle Period (ca. 1835-1845) in Western New York. It is also an intact example of the vernacular Greek Revival style applied to religious buildings. It is one of only about 14 cobblestone religious buildings believed to survive in the state.","narrative":"Built in 1843 for a Baptist congregation founded in 1829, this cobblestone church sits on East Avenue in the hamlet of Newfane, Niagara County. It is a rectangular, gable-roofed building of irregular field cobbles laid in horizontal rows, with roughly hewn limestone quoins, stone sills and lintels, and a raised fieldstone foundation. The congregation had met in a private mansion before the building was erected at a cost of $2,200. In 1906-07 the church was renovated with stained glass windows, a sloping floor, oak seating and pressed metal interior finishes, and a four-story Norman-inspired tower of rock-faced brick replaced the old steeple. The cobblestone walls and quoins remain virtually intact to 1843. It is one of about 47 cobblestone buildings in Niagara County and one of roughly 14 cobblestone religious buildings in New York, which is why it is valued as an example of this regional building method and of vernacular Greek Revival church design.","period_of_significance":"1843 - 1906","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mid-19th Century: Greek Revival; Late-19th Century: Romanesque","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used for religious purposes; the 1922 Memorial Hall attached at the northeast corner is a non-contributing addition.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.054137-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/04000987.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000987/c7425278eb-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/04000987/c7425278eb-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Baptist_Church_Newfane_Jun_09.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog (talk)</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Baptist_Church_Newfane_Jun_09.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313963","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Baptist_Church_(Newfane,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452417"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/niagara-county/first-baptist-church-04000987/"}