{"nrhp_refnum":"76001430","name":"Free Will Baptist Church Of Auburn","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"11742 E. Washington St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Auburn Corners","county":"Geauga County","state":"OH","lat":41.387596657000074,"lon":-81.21869939899995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1976-05-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wooden frame Greek Revival church, 36 by 47 feet, at 11742 East Washington Street in Auburn Corners, Geauga County, Ohio. The Free Will Baptist congregation organized in 1839, and the building was under construction in 1840 and finished in 1841.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it a good example of the small Greek Revival churches found across northeastern Ohio. Its roof structure, with wooden trusses and diagonal bracing, is described as extremely unusual for its date and region. It was also the site of an 1845 incident in which the congregation refused to let Samuel F. B. Morse lecture on the telegraph, which shows the religious conservatism of the time and place.","narrative":"Built between 1840 and 1841 in Auburn Corners, Ohio, this wooden Greek Revival church served a Free Will Baptist congregation organized in 1839. Methodists also used it through the nineteenth century, with their pastor traveling five miles every two weeks. The frame building measures 36 by 47 feet, rests on a sandstone foundation, and has clapboard siding, a gabled roof with cornice returns, and an interior gallery. Its roof trusses, braced diagonally in a horizontal plane, were described by a Western Reserve Historical Society architect as extremely unusual for the date and location. In 1845, Dr. O. W. Ludlow invited Samuel F. B. Morse to lecture on the electric telegraph here, but the congregation refused, judging the use sacrilegious. Ludlow answered with a satirical verse tacked to the door. After church use ended in 1947, the building went to the Civic Club as a community house, fell into neglect, and was later repaired for use as a local museum.","period_of_significance":"1839-1841; 1845","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Not used as a church after 1947. Floor and exterior were repaired after the floor collapsed by 1974, interior restoration was under way, and it is being developed as a local museum.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:09.111585-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/76001430.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001430/c760667373-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/76001430/c760667373-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Free_Will_Baptist_Church_of_Auburn.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Free_Will_Baptist_Church_of_Auburn.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71988666","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Will_Baptist_Church_of_Auburn","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5500158"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/geauga-county/free-will-baptist-church-of-auburn-76001430/"}