{"nrhp_refnum":"78002478","name":"Allegheny Baptist Church","other_names":["Free Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"PA 27 and Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Pleasantville","county":"Venango County","state":"PA","lat":41.597214208000025,"lon":-79.58054650299994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1978-12-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story frame church with a square tower on Route 27 (Main Street) in Pleasantville, Venango County, Pennsylvania, built 1847-49 as a Baptist church and later used by a Free Methodist congregation.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an excellent example of a simple Greek Revival building that has been little altered since it was built in 1847-49. It also records the founding of a Baptist society in Pleasantville, which used the building until 1890, after which a Free Methodist congregation obtained it.","narrative":"Built between August 1847 and January 1849, this one-story frame church on Main Street in Pleasantville began as the home of a Baptist society organized by Aaron Benedict, a native of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The rectangular building has a square belfry rising about 22 feet above the roof, white pine lap siding, a cut sandstone foundation, and windows of four over four panes. Flat pilasters flank the wide central entrance and mark each corner, and a plain wooden frieze crosses the front. The interior is a single large room with a pulpit platform at the front. The Baptist organization continued until 1890, although its last pastor retired in 1879. After 1890 a Free Methodist congregation acquired the building and continues to use it. The nomination describes it as an excellent, little-altered example of simple Greek Revival design, with Mamley Colton Beebe named as architect.","period_of_significance":"1847 - 49","architect_builder":"Mamley Colton Beebe (architect)","architectural_style":"Greek Revival (described in the description as classical revival)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as the Free Methodist Church of Pleasantville; the form marks it occupied by a religious use and states it has been little altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:59:01.808453-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/78002478.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002478/63dc55b187-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/78002478/63dc55b187-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":null,"credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_American_Buildings_Survey,_William_J._Bulger,_Photographer_DETAIL_OF_FRONT_OF_CHURCH_(SOUTH_ELEVATION)._-_Free_Methodist_Church,_Pleasantville,_Venango_County,_PA_HABS_PA,61-PLEAV,2-1.tif\" rel=\"noopener\">Unknown author</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Historic_American_Buildings_Survey,_William_J._Bulger,_Photographer_DETAIL_OF_FRONT_OF_CHURCH_(SOUTH_ELEVATION)._-_Free_Methodist_Church,_Pleasantville,_Venango_County,_PA_HABS_PA,61-PLEAV,2-1.tif"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71997830","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_Baptist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4731280"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/venango-county/allegheny-baptist-church-78002478/"}