{"nrhp_refnum":"10000956","name":"Greenfield Preparative Meeting House","other_names":["Catskill Meeting House"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 55 at Denman Mt Rd","address_restricted":false,"city":"Grahamsville","county":"Sullivan County","state":"NY","lat":41.85641085300006,"lon":-74.55238109699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2010-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small one-story, wood-frame Quaker meeting house on NY 55 about one mile west of Grahamsville, Sullivan County, New York, built in 1838-39 with an attached privy added slightly later.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is a distinctive, intact example of an early nineteenth-century Quaker meeting house, embodying the Quaker tradition of simplicity, symmetry and fine craftsmanship. It is the oldest of three meeting houses built in northeast Sullivan County and the only survivor. It also reflects the settlement of Quakers from New England and the Hudson Valley in the Catskills.","narrative":"Set on a mountain slope just off NY 55, west of Grahamsville, this small Quaker meeting house was built in 1838-39 by Leonard Porter. The one-story building measures about thirty-nine by nineteen feet and has vertical plank framing, cedar clapboard siding that replaced the original hemlock, and a standing-seam steel roof. A small privy is attached to the east end. Inside, it is a double-cell plan, with separate rooms for men's and women's worship divided by a wall with hinged screens that could be raised for joint meetings. Plaster walls, wide plank floors, unfinished woodwork and plain built-in and movable benches reflect the Quaker value of simplicity. Two wood stoves share a central chimney, and there are no electric lights. The building is significant as a well-preserved example of Quaker meeting house design and as the oldest and only surviving one of three such buildings in northeast Sullivan County. Members still use it for worship today.","period_of_significance":"1838-39","architect_builder":"Leonard Porter, builder","architectural_style":"no style","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used for its original religious function; worship is held in one room and the other is used for religious education and fellowship. It has no electricity, central heat or indoor plumbing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.8361-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/10000956.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322367","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenfield_Preparative_Meeting_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5603980"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/sullivan-county/greenfield-preparative-meeting-house-10000956/"}