{"nrhp_refnum":"71000540","name":"Indian Castle Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 5S","address_restricted":false,"city":"Indian Castle","county":"Herkimer County","state":"NY","lat":43.00282898300003,"lon":-74.77740291299995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1971-02-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Native American","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story wooden-frame church with a steeple on Route 5S in the village of Indian Castle, Town of Danube, Herkimer County, New York, built as an Indian mission church around 1769-1770.","why_significant":"It was built as a mission church for the Mohawk under the direction and at the expense of Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, on land donated by Chief Joseph Brant. Despite extensive alterations, it is one of the few remaining Indian mission churches in New York State. A burial ground behind it holds the graves of both Indians and white men.","narrative":"Indian Castle Church is a small, one-story wooden church with clapboard siding, a gabled roof, a rectangular plan and a steeple, located on Route 5S in the village of Indian Castle, Herkimer County. It was erected as a mission church for Mohawk people under the direction and at the expense of Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Tradition holds that construction began in 1769 and finished the following spring, on land given by Chief Joseph Brant. The site belongs to a long line of Mohawk Valley strongholds, or castles, and one of three castles for the surviving clans was established at Indian Castle around 1700. Alterations have been considerable: the entrance was once in the middle of the east side, and the Gothic Revival steeple replaced an open Georgian cupola. A burial ground behind the church contains graves of both Indians and white men. It remains one of the few surviving Indian mission churches in New York State.","period_of_significance":"c. 1769-1770 (18th century)","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in good condition, altered, on its original site; owned by the State of New York and in religious and museum use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.141872-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/71000540.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000540/c2b2de0479-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/71000540/c2b2de0479-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Wknight94 talk","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Indian_Castle_Church_2009.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Wknight94 talk</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:Indian_Castle_Church_2009.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318150","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Castle_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6019976"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/herkimer-county/indian-castle-church-71000540/"}