{"nrhp_refnum":"82001370","name":"St. John's AME Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2261 E. 40th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Cleveland","county":"Cuyahoga County","state":"OH","lat":41.49663510400006,"lon":-81.65601788399994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-12-17","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church is a two-story brick Gothic eclectic church at 2261 East 40th Street in Cleveland, Ohio, erected in 1908 to designs by Badgley & Nicklas and built by John F. Aring.","why_significant":"St. John's is considered the first black congregation in Cleveland, founded in 1830 by freed slaves. It is one of the largest and most influential congregations in its denomination and was the parent of eight other black congregations. The building is also notable as the work of Badgley & Nicklas, architects of several advanced church designs.","narrative":"St. John's African Methodist Episcopal Church is a brick church at 2261 East 40th Street in Cleveland, completed in 1908. Architects Badgley & Nicklas designed it in a Gothic eclectic style, and John F. Aring was the builder. A corner entrance tower has paired belfry openings, and symmetrical gabled entrance porches have wood brackets and brick buttresses. A gabled parapet rises over a central pointed arched window with stone tracery and brick hood molding. Stone is used for sills, coping, buttress caps and the water table. Inside, a large central auditorium has a domed ceiling. The congregation is considered the first black congregation in Cleveland, founded in 1830 by freed slaves, and this is its third building. It grew into one of the largest and most influential congregations in the denomination and was parent to eight other black congregations. The church sits on a busy residential street with many cleared properties, next to the central high school, and remains in use for worship.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architects Badgley & Nicklas; builder John F. Aring","architectural_style":"Gothic eclectic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a church; exterior and interior condition listed as excellent.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.701105-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82001370.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001370/ca37aa3471-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82001370/ca37aa3471-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._John%27s_AME_Church_in_Cleveland.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St._John%27s_AME_Church_in_Cleveland.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984594","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._John_African_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(Cleveland)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7588573"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/cuyahoga-county/st-johns-ame-church-82001370/"}