{"nrhp_refnum":"82001265","name":"Woodrow Methodist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"1109 Woodrow Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Staten Island","state":"NY","lat":40.54308008700008,"lon":-74.20131214399998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-10-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Greek Revival wooden church and its graveyard at 1109 Woodrow Road in the Eltingville/Woodrow section of Staten Island, New York, built in 1842 with an Italianate bell tower added in 1876.","why_significant":"It houses the oldest Methodist congregation on Staten Island, known as the \"mother church of Methodism on Staten Island,\" tracing to Francis Asbury's preaching visits beginning in 1771. Its plain, dignified Greek Revival form reflects Methodism's populist, rural origins and Wesley's call for plain preaching houses. The 1876 tower marks the movement's shift toward a more ecclesiastical appearance.","narrative":"Set on a sloping, tree-shaded two-and-one-third-acre site on Staten Island, this wooden church and its surrounding graveyard preserve a sense of the area's rural past. The temple-form building, completed in 1842 and dedicated on Christmas Day, has clapboard walls, a shingled roof and a portico of four baseless Greek Doric columns. An open three-stage bell tower and spire in a vernacular Italianate style was added in 1876, housing a bell given by a grandson of the first preacher. The congregation is the oldest Methodist group on the island, tracing its roots to visits by the itinerant preacher Francis Asbury in 1771 and the first local society of 1787. Henry Boehm, an influential minister, is buried in the churchyard. A parsonage dating from 1850 stands to the south. The plain design reflects Methodist ideals of simple, modest worship buildings.","period_of_significance":"1842/1876","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival, with a vernacular Italianate bell tower","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a religious building; condition listed as good and altered. The tower was enclosed in aluminum siding in 1982 but remains intact beneath it.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:41.415758-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/82001265.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001265/5f1599371d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001265/5f1599371d-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woodrow_U_Meth_Ch_Huguenot_jeh.JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Woodrow_U_Meth_Ch_Huguenot_jeh.JPG"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321414","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodrow_Methodist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8033177"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/staten-island/woodrow-methodist-church-82001265/"}