{"nrhp_refnum":"82003647","name":"First Reformed and First Lutheran Churches","other_names":["First United Church of Christ and First Lutheran Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"901 and 909 E. Tuscarawas St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Canton","county":"Stark County","state":"OH","lat":40.797907259000056,"lon":-81.36683265999994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1982-09-28","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A city block at 901 and 909 East Tuscarawas Street in downtown Canton, Stark County, Ohio, holding two adjacent Gothic Revival brick churches (First Reformed, 1862 core; First Lutheran, 1869-70) plus parsonages, a garage and a caretaker's house.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the two buildings represent a long shared history of German Lutheran and Reformed congregations in east central Ohio. The groups worshipped together in frontier days, then divided in the 1850s and built separate churches a few feet apart. Their continued proximity reflects that intertwined development.","narrative":"Two red brick Gothic Revival churches stand side by side on East Tuscarawas Street in downtown Canton, near a major railroad crossing. First Reformed, on the west, has a core dating from 1862, with a front facade and western additions of 1899 and a three-story classroom and office wing added in 1926. First Lutheran, on the east, dates from 1869-70 and gained transepts and a chancel around 1925 and a classroom addition in the 1950s. Between them are two 1941 brick parsonages, a garage and a c. 1900 frame caretaker's house. The site is significant for religious history. German-descended Lutheran and Reformed settlers shared church buildings and records in early Ohio, formalized by an 1822 agreement. Disputes over language, temperance and revivalism led to separation in the 1850s, and the Reformed congregation built its own church on the west part of the shared site. The buildings, standing only feet apart, document that connected but divided history.","period_of_significance":"1862; 1869-1870","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Gothic Revival","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Both churches are occupied and in religious use; condition is marked excellent and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:12.399695-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/82003647.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003647/3c96e042bc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/82003647/3c96e042bc-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Roseohioresident","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Reformed_and_First_Lutheran_Churches.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Roseohioresident</a>, <a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Reformed_and_First_Lutheran_Churches.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991466","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q60040363"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/stark-county/first-reformed-and-first-lutheran-churches-82003647/"}