{"nrhp_refnum":"73001548","name":"First Unitarian Church Of Marietta","other_names":["See Also:Marietta Historic District"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"232 3rd St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marietta","county":"Washington County","state":"OH","lat":39.416062504000024,"lon":-81.45300121299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-10-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick and stone Gothic Revival church at 232 Third Street in Marietta, Washington County, Ohio, built 1855-1857 at the expense of Nahum Ward, with drawings by John M. Slocomb of Boston.","why_significant":"The church is described as one of Marietta's most important architectural landmarks and an excellent example of Gothic Revival design. It is one of the oldest remaining churches in the area and among the first built west of the Allegheny Mountains in that style. It also serves as a community meeting place and has a link to Nahum Ward, a long-serving Marietta mayor.","narrative":"Built between July 1855 and June 1857, this brick and stone Gothic Revival church on Third Street in Marietta measures about 80 by 50 feet. Nahum Ward, a land dealer and longtime mayor who settled in Marietta in 1811, paid for its construction and later turned it over to a board of trustees. John M. Slocomb of Boston produced the drawings, and local craftsmen handled the stone and brick, using handmade bricks. Square buttresses topped with finials, battlements along the roofline, and an 85-foot bell tower give the exterior its Gothic character, while tall arched windows hold tracery and stained glass. Inside, a mural of Christ Weeping Over Jerusalem hangs above the altar. A Universalist congregation merged with the Unitarians in 1869, and the name changed in 1967. Speakers at its pulpit included Ralph Waldo Emerson and William Howard Taft. The church is valued as an early Gothic Revival example in the region and as a community gathering place.","period_of_significance":"1855-1857","architect_builder":"John M. Slocomb of Boston (elevation and drawings); N.S. Alcock (stonework of foundation and coping); William Kexal (brickwork)","architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Listed as in excellent condition, altered, on its original site, and occupied for religious use; lighting, heating and plumbing modernized, organ rebuilt, and stained glass windows replaced in 1925.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.172855-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/73001548.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001548/b1293d4756-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73001548/b1293d4756-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Bwsmith84 (talk)","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Unitarian_Church_Of_Marietta.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Bwsmith84 (talk)</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Unitarian_Church_Of_Marietta.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"01001040","name":"Marietta Historic District (Boundary Decrease)","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/marietta-historic-district-boundary-decrease-01001040/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991931","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Unitarian_Church_of_Marietta","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453950"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/washington-county/first-unitarian-church-of-marietta-73001548/"}