{"nrhp_refnum":"05000165","name":"First Methodist Episcopal Church of Avon","other_names":["Avon United Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"130 Genesee St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Avon","county":"Livingston County","state":"NY","lat":42.910101627000074,"lon":-77.74620412699994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2005-03-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Romanesque-style Methodist church at 130 Genesee Street in Avon, Livingston County, New York, built 1879-1880 to designs by Rochester architect James Cutler.","why_significant":"The church is significant as a representative, intact example of a Romanesque-style Protestant church. Cutler's design put worship space and fellowship and education rooms on two floors under one roof, with modest Romanesque detailing. The sanctuary keeps its original windows, pews, dais and wainscot, and it houses a relatively rare Felgemaker tracker-action organ installed in 1895.","narrative":"This brick church on Genesee Street in Avon, New York, was built between 1879 and 1880 for a Methodist congregation organized in 1834. It replaced an 1839 wooden church on the same lot, which was moved to the rear during construction. Rochester architect James Cutler designed it, and Lang and Watkins of Avon carried out the construction. Cutler placed the sanctuary and the fellowship and education spaces on two floors under a single roof, which reduced building and roof maintenance costs. The exterior combines a tall corner tower, round-arched openings, corbelling and rock-faced brownstone trim in a Romanesque manner. Inside, the sanctuary retains its original non-figural stained glass, oak pews, raised dais and oak wainscot. A Felgemaker tracker-action organ, installed in 1895 and later restored, draws visitors interested in organs. The building was listed for its architectural value as a largely unaltered Romanesque church, and it still serves an active congregation.","period_of_significance":"1879-1954","architect_builder":"James G. Cutler","architectural_style":"Late Victorian / Romanesque","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Continues to serve an active congregation that has maintained its historic appearance; the organ has been restored.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:53.689981-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/05000165.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000165/0bd4592ad0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/05000165/0bd4592ad0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from now in Binghamton, NY","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_ME_Church_Avon_NY_Aug_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from now in Binghamton, NY</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_ME_Church_Avon_NY_Aug_09.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100007683","name":"Avon Village Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/avon-village-historic-district-100007683/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318639","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_of_Avon","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453318"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/livingston-county/first-methodist-episcopal-church-of-avon-05000165/"}