{"nrhp_refnum":"79002732","name":"St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"320 Middle Ave.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Elyria","county":"Lorain County","state":"OH","lat":41.36428072000007,"lon":-82.10652104399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-13","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church is a one-story brick Gothic Revival church on a sandstone foundation at the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Middle Avenue in Elyria, Lorain County, Ohio, built 1883-86.","why_significant":"The inventory form describes it as a good example of Victorian Gothic architecture, noted for a very tall steeple visible from great distances and an unusual entrance porch with slender cast-iron columns. It also houses the first Catholic congregation in Elyria.","narrative":"St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church is a brick church at the northeast corner of Fourth Street and Middle Avenue in Elyria, Ohio. Built between 1883 and 1886 in the Gothic Revival style, it is a one-story rectangular building with a sandstone foundation, a gabled asphalt-shingle roof, arched openings and buttresses. Its most noticeable feature is a very tall steeple that can be seen from a great distance. The entrance porch, supported by slender cast-iron columns, is described as unusual and interesting. Inside, the sanctuary is somewhat plain but contains fine stained glass windows. The church houses the first Catholic congregation in Elyria, whose original church stood on the corner diagonally opposite and no longer survives. Adjacent buildings are used by the parish for school purposes, including a Catholic school built in 1901 that is separately included in the Ohio Historic Inventory. The church remains in use and is in very good condition.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival (described as Victorian Gothic)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a church; interior and exterior condition are both listed as very good.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.216162-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/79002732.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002732/189fd58261-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/79002732/189fd58261-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"TnrSmith","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:StMary%22s_Catholic_Church_Elyria_OH.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">TnrSmith</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:StMary%22s_Catholic_Church_Elyria_OH.JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"00001663","name":"Elyria Downtown-West Avenue Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/elyria-downtown-west-avenue-historic-district-00001663/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71985728","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary%27s_Roman_Catholic_Church_(Elyria,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7590411"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/lorain-county/st-marys-roman-catholic-church-79002732/"}