{"nrhp_refnum":"12000981","name":"Baker Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":["Bake Memorial United Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"345 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"East Aurora","county":"Erie County","state":"NY","lat":42.769629663000046,"lon":-78.62149398899999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"2012-11-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Art","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large Gothic Revival church complex at 345 Main Street in the village of East Aurora, Erie County, New York, built in 1927-1928 of local limestone, with a parsonage, barn and superintendent's house on the same property.","why_significant":"The church is argued to be a well-preserved local example of Collegiate (Perpendicular) Gothic church architecture by the Philadelphia firm Charles Bolton & Son. It is also significant in art because all of its windows were designed by the Tiffany studios and installed as a unified ensemble in 1928, which is described as unusual among American churches.","narrative":"Baker Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church occupies a corner site on Main Street in East Aurora, New York. Built in 1927-1928 from local limestone, it follows the Perpendicular or Collegiate Gothic style, with a square three-story entrance tower, buttresses, pointed-arch windows and crenellation. Philadelphia church architects Charles Bolton & Son designed it, drawing on ideas associated with Ralph Adams Cram. The earlier frame church of 1877-1878 was moved, turned and incorporated into the attached chapel and parish hall. Inside, a clear-span sanctuary has a vaulted plaster ceiling and a set of opalescent windows designed by the Tiffany studios and installed in 1928 as one ensemble. A brick Italianate parsonage, a barn and a superintendent's house, acquired in 1935, also contribute to the property. The church was recognized for its architecture and for this unified Tiffany window program, and it retains a high degree of integrity.","period_of_significance":"1928-1935","architect_builder":"Milton Beebe (parish hall); Charles Bolton & Sons (church)","architectural_style":"Early Twentieth Century Gothic Revival (Collegiate Gothic)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still functions as a place of worship; the parsonage and associated buildings remain in church use, and the church has seen little alteration since construction.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:48.845167-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/12000981.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000981/cd6cf857ae-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/12000981/cd6cf857ae-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Pubdog","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baker_Memorial_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_East_Aurora_NY_Sep_12.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pubdog</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Baker_Memorial_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_East_Aurora_NY_Sep_12.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317542","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baker_Memorial_Methodist_Episcopal_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14706167"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/erie-county/baker-memorial-methodist-episcopal-church-12000981/"}