{"nrhp_refnum":"10000513","name":"Taylor Center Methodist Episcopal Church and Taylor District #3 School","other_names":["Second Methodist Episcopal Church of Taylor","Solon Pond Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"4332-4338 Cheningo-Solon Pond Rd","address_restricted":false,"city":"Taylore Center","county":"Cortland County","state":"NY","lat":42.61651000000006,"lon":-75.92561999999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-07-30","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story clapboard Methodist Episcopal church built in 1870 at Taylor Center, Town of Taylor, Cortland County, New York, with an adjacent former one-room district school that is counted as non-contributing.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be significant under Criterion C as a remarkably intact, modest vernacular rural church typical of upstate New York in the later nineteenth century. Its simple exterior and its interior based on the Akron Plan, with a diagonal center aisle and sliding doors to an adjoining room, survive largely unchanged. The school is historically related but obscured by a large addition.","narrative":"Set between a narrow road and Solon Pond in the rural hamlet of Taylor Center, this small Methodist Episcopal church was built in 1870 on land donated by Isaac and Lydia Smith, who also gave the land for the neighboring district school. The church is a one-story white clapboard building of about 30 by 40 feet, with a gabled front, standing-seam metal roof, quarry-faced stone foundation and no steeple. Paired Queen Anne windows with colored glass edges provide its only color. Inside, the sanctuary follows the Akron Plan, with pews in concentric arcs facing a corner altar, a diagonal center aisle and sliding doors that open an adjoining room to the sanctuary. It seats no more than 75 people. The former one-room school nearby keeps its clapboard walls and original layout, but a large addition hides its front, so it is counted as non-contributing. The church was listed for its intact vernacular design.","period_of_significance":"1870-1898","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Mixed (vernacular rural church with Akron Plan interior)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"The church and school were recently acquired by the Taylor Historical Society, and the church is occasionally used for services. The school has a large addition obscuring its front elevation.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:47.886249-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/10000513.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000513/533f3ee03d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/10000513/533f3ee03d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:TAYLOR_CENTER_METHODIST_EPISCOPAL_CHURCH_AND_TAYLOR_DISTRICT_NO._3_SCHOOL,_COURTLAND_COUNTY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</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:TAYLOR_CENTER_METHODIST_EPISCOPAL_CHURCH_AND_TAYLOR_DISTRICT_NO._3_SCHOOL,_COURTLAND_COUNTY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317165","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taylor_Center_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_and_Taylor_District_No._3_School","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7689901"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/cortland-county/taylor-center-methodist-episcopal-church-and-taylor-district-3-school-10000513/"}