{"nrhp_refnum":"80002751","name":"Reformed Church of Newtown Complex","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"8515 Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Queens","state":"NY","lat":40.73975179100006,"lon":-73.87788458899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A religious complex at 85-15 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, New York, made up of a wood-frame Greek Revival church built in 1831, a Fellowship Hall built as a chapel in 1858-60, a connecting chapel passage, and an early cemetery enclosed by an iron fence.","why_significant":"The church and hall are among the oldest surviving wood-frame buildings in Queens. Their similar, simple vernacular Greek Revival details unite them as a group despite different construction dates. They also remain as rare reminders of Elmhurst's pre-Civil War agrarian era in what is now a fully urban community.","narrative":"Along Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, a wooden church, a connected chapel, a fellowship hall and a small cemetery sit together inside an iron fence. The church was built in 1831 and incorporates the cornerstone of the congregation's earlier octagonal building of 1731 in its foundation. The hall began as a chapel in 1858-60 and was moved back in 1906 to line up with the church, joined by a covered passage. Both buildings use simple, vernacular Greek Revival forms, including temple-like gable fronts, round gable windows and modillioned cornices, although aluminum shingles were added in 1965. A bell tower with an octagonal lantern rises from the church roof. The ensemble was listed as one of the oldest surviving wood-frame building groups in Queens and as a link to Elmhurst's early development, when an early picture shows the buildings standing in open farm fields. The congregation belongs to the Reformed Church in America, rooted in Dutch settlement.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Vernacular Greek Revival","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in religious use; the buildings were covered with aluminum shingles in 1965 and altered several times, but the basic form of the interior and exterior remains intact.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.018354-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002751.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002751/6c40acd478-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002751/6c40acd478-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RDC_Newtown_Bwy_Elmhurst_jeh.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RDC_Newtown_Bwy_Elmhurst_jeh.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321137","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformed_Church_of_Newtown","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7760035"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/queens/reformed-church-of-newtown-complex-80002751/"}