{"nrhp_refnum":"08000040","name":"First Universalist Church of Portageville","other_names":["Portageville Chapel"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"E. Koy Rd. at NY 19A","address_restricted":false,"city":"Portageville","county":"Wyoming County","state":"NY","lat":42.56792795600006,"lon":-78.04494420299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2008-02-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival meeting house at East Koy Road and NY 19A in the hamlet of Portageville, Wyoming County, New York, built in 1841 by church member Marvin Wood on a 1.4-acre lot.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a largely intact pre-Civil War meeting house that blends the Wren-Gibbs church tradition with Greek Revival, Gothick and Federal elements. It keeps early auditorium-style worship features such as a sloped floor, box pews and a central pulpit. It is also one of few buildings surviving from Portageville's boom years tied to the Genesee Valley Canal.","narrative":"Built in 1841 on land donated by George and Alma Williams, this wood-frame church sits at the junction of East Koy Road and NY 19A in Portageville. Marvin Wood, an early congregation member, built it, and construction began in Allegany County and finished in the newly created Wyoming County. The meeting house combines Greek Revival pilasters with Gothic-arched windows, Federal doors and a staged tower. Inside, a single large room has box pews, an original pulpit, a gently sloped floor and no center aisle, all arrangements meant to focus attention on preaching. The congregation closed in the 1930s, and later uses included Seventh-Day Adventist worship and a secondhand furniture shop. The upper tower stages were lost to wind in the 1950s. A nonprofit bought the building in 2006 and is restoring it as a retreat for organists. It is valued as a remarkably intact survivor of Portageville's canal-era prosperity.","period_of_significance":"1841-ca. 1940","architect_builder":"Marvin Wood (builder)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Undergoing rehabilitation as of 2007; 1950s additions, except the rear wing shell, have been removed, and the owners plan to restore the missing tower stages.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:52.89399-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/08000040.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000040/06127cfaa3-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/08000040/06127cfaa3-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Universalist_Church_of_Portageville_Jul_11.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Universalist_Church_of_Portageville_Jul_11.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75323336","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Universalist_Church_of_Portageville","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5454043"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/wyoming-county/first-universalist-church-of-portageville-08000040/"}