{"nrhp_refnum":"80003573","name":"Christ Hamilton United Lutheran Church and Cemetery","other_names":[],"category":"district","location":{"address":"Bossardsville Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hamilton Square","county":"Monroe County","state":"PA","lat":40.92599358100006,"lon":-75.28965710499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-06-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Education","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A field stone Lutheran church with a adjoining cemetery in Hamilton Square, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. The church was built in 1829 and first used in November 1830.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is the oldest church building in active use in the county and the mother church of Lutheran and Reformed (United Church of Christ) congregations there. It also cites the architecture as an accurate and substantially unchanged representation of its period, the first school in the area, and a cemetery with burials from 1793 to 1875 that includes Revolutionary War soldiers.","narrative":"Built of native field stone in Hamilton Square, Monroe County, the church was designed by Henry Fenner and Peter Kester, with Levi M. Slutter as builder. The cornerstone was laid in 1829, and the building was completed and first used in November 1830 at a cost of about $4,300, funded largely by selling roughly 250 acres of church lands to area farmers. The congregation traces its formal beginning to 1768, and the nomination regards the church as the mother church of Lutheran and Reformed (United Church of Christ) congregations in the county. Its adjoining school was the first in the area, teaching in English and German. The enclosed cemetery holds 105 limestone headstones, mostly in German, with burials from 1793 to 1875, including eight Revolutionary War soldiers and some Civil War combatants. The interior features a balcony, a tracker-action organ, original pews, and stained glass in all 27 window wells. Burials ended in the mid 19th century because of high water tables and limited space.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Henry Fenner and Peter Kester (architects); Levi M. Slutter (builder)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Church is in active use; the cemetery's burials were discontinued in the mid 19th century.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:33.9632-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/80003573.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003573/a32d209a05-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80003573/a32d209a05-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Jerrye &amp; Roy Klotz, MD","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_Hamilton_United_Lutheran_Church_and_Cemetery,_Monroe_County,_PA.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerrye &amp;amp; Roy Klotz, MD</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Christ_Hamilton_United_Lutheran_Church_and_Cemetery,_Monroe_County,_PA.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71995738","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Hamilton_United_Lutheran_Church_and_Cemetery","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5108910"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/monroe-county/christ-hamilton-united-lutheran-church-and-cemetery-80003573/"}