{"nrhp_refnum":"80002975","name":"Brownella Cottage and Grace Episcopal Church and Rectory","other_names":["Bishop Brown House","Grace Episcopal Church and Education Buil"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"S. Union and Walnut Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Galion","county":"Crawford County","state":"OH","lat":40.73306017300007,"lon":-82.79102365599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-09-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion","Philosophy"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A complex of five buildings in Galion, Ohio, on two corners of South Union and Walnut Streets: Brownella Cottage, Bishop Brown's study (built 1866 as a Roman Catholic church), a carriage house, Grace Episcopal Church, and its rectory. The cottage was built in 1885-1887.","why_significant":"The complex is significant for its architecture and for its link to Bishop William Montgomery Brown, an Episcopal bishop deposed for heresy in 1925 after embracing Marxism and Communism. Brownella Cottage is described as unlike any other house of its period in Galion. The church and rectory were moved and enlarged in 1893 with funds from Brown.","narrative":"Brownella Cottage and the neighboring Grace Episcopal Church form a group of buildings in Galion, Ohio, tied to Bishop William Montgomery Brown. The brick cottage, built in 1885-1887 with money from the philanthropist Mary Scranton Bradford, has a tower, varied textures, irregular massing and decorative iron crosses set in the brickwork. A study, built in 1866 as St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church, and a carriage house are linked to the house by glass-enclosed walkways. Across the street, Grace Episcopal Church was moved in 1893 and later covered in brick veneer, and its rectory was enlarged and veneered. Brown, a missionary in Galion and later Bishop of Arkansas, turned to Marxism and was tried for heresy in 1924-1925. He wrote and published from the study until his death in 1937, and his secretary kept distributing his works until 1959. The house stayed largely untouched until restoration began in 1979.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Church original section designed by Lloyd and Pearce of Detroit; Brownella Cottage architect unknown","architectural_style":"Late nineteenth-century cottage with Queen Anne features (not a pure example); Gothic-style church","criteria":[],"status_note":"Brownella house is vacant and was nearly untouched since Brown's death in 1937; restoration began in 1979. The church is in religious use and the rectory serves as an educational building.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.669096-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/80002975.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002975/bcfc17b35a-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002975/bcfc17b35a-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grace_ECUSA_in_Galion.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grace_ECUSA_in_Galion.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987319","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brownella_Cottage_and_Grace_Episcopal_Church_and_Rectory","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4976487"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/crawford-county/brownella-cottage-and-grace-episcopal-church-and-rectory-80002975/"}