{"nrhp_refnum":"73001418","name":"St. John's Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2600 Church St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cleveland","county":"Cuyahoga County","state":"OH","lat":41.49002066400004,"lon":-81.70806265699997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-02-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A sandstone Early English Gothic Revival church at 2600 Church Street in Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, built 1836-1838 and designed and built by Hezekiah Eldredge.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it the oldest church standing in Cuyahoga County and one of the best works of architect-builder Hezekiah Eldredge, the only one of his Cleveland-area buildings still standing. It is also described as the last stop on an Underground Railroad route to Canada, with hiding places in the bell tower and deep basement.","narrative":"St. John's Episcopal Church, at 2600 Church Street in Cleveland, is an Early English Gothic Revival building completed in the fall of 1838. Its walls are random ashlar sandstone quarried along the Cuyahoga River, with pointed-arch windows trimmed in local white limestone and a three-story bell tower rising over the narthex. Hezekiah Eldredge, a parish charter member, both designed and built it. A fire in 1866 gutted the interior, and tornadoes in 1943 and 1954 damaged the tower and north end, leading to a steeper roof, a brick-faced north wall and a redone interior that retains red oak hammer beam trusses, pews and an original tracker organ under restoration. It is described as the oldest church standing in Cuyahoga County and still holds services. The nomination also says it served as the last stop on an Underground Railroad route, with hiding spaces in the tower and deep basement. It is the only surviving building credited to Eldredge in the Cleveland area.","period_of_significance":"19th Century (specific dates 1836-1838)","architect_builder":"Hezekiah Eldredge","architectural_style":"Early English Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as an active church; condition marked good and altered, with the bell tower in need of additional work and the original organ being restored.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.985604-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001418.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001418/bd9df6bf15-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001418/bd9df6bf15-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Martin Linsey","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._John%27s_Episcopal_Church,_Cleveland.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Martin Linsey</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._John%27s_Episcopal_Church,_Cleveland.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987383","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John%27s_Episcopal_Church_(Cleveland)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7588675"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/cuyahoga-county/st-johns-episcopal-church-73001418/"}