{"nrhp_refnum":"11001024","name":"People's African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"711 E. Fayette St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Syracuse","county":"Onondaga County","state":"NY","lat":43.050848838000036,"lon":-76.14087403499997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-01-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Social History","Black"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small Gothic Revival brick church at 711 East Fayette Street on Syracuse's near east side, built in 1910-11 for the A.M.E. Zion congregation, designed by Charles Coulton (spelled Colton in the narrative).","why_significant":"It is described as the oldest standing African American church in Syracuse and is tied to the city's oldest African American congregation, organized in 1835. The congregation supported abolitionism, the Underground Railroad and later civil rights work with the NAACP and CORE. The building is also an example of early twentieth century church design by a prominent local architect.","narrative":"This small brick church at 711 East Fayette Street in Syracuse was built in 1910-11 for the A.M.E. Zion congregation. Designed by local architect Charles Coulton, possibly with advice from Wallace Rayfield, it combines Romanesque and Gothic Revival elements, a three-story corner bell tower, stucco over brick, and open steel roof trusses. Stained glass windows carry both Christian and Masonic symbols. It is the oldest standing African American church in the city and one of the few buildings to survive urban renewal and construction of Interstate 81 in the old Fifteenth Ward. The congregation, organized in 1835, supported abolition, the Underground Railroad, and later worked with the NAACP and the Congress of Racial Equality. Under Rev. Emory Proctor it became a center of 1960s civil rights activism. The congregation moved to South Salina Street and the building was left in 1974. Although deteriorated, most original fabric remains.","period_of_significance":"1911-1964","architect_builder":"Charles Coulton, possible w/advice from Wallace Rayfield","architectural_style":"Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals: Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Deteriorated but with most original fabric intact; the congregation left the building in 1974 and later a renting congregation used it. The form also notes a neighboring commercial building was empty in 2010.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.65724-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/11001024.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11001024/b025e52de4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/11001024/b025e52de4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Lrecchia15","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Former_building_for_People%27s_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Zion_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Lrecchia15</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Former_building_for_People%27s_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Zion_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320420","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Zion_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q22024707"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/onondaga-county/peoples-african-methodist-episcopal-zion-church-11001024/"}