{"nrhp_refnum":"83001695","name":"New England Congregational Church and Rectory","other_names":["Light of the World Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"177-179 S. 9th St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Brooklyn","state":"NY","lat":40.70864857000004,"lon":-73.96198367899996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1983-09-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brownstone-faced brick Italianate church (1852-53) and an adjoining three-story rowhouse rectory (1868) at 177-179 South Ninth Street in the Williamsburgh section of Brooklyn, New York.","why_significant":"The church is described as a rare surviving Italianate church in Brooklyn and an exceptional example of a church integrated into a residential streetscape while retaining its public prominence. It was built for one of Brooklyn's earliest Congregationalist groups and is associated with the Beecher family. The rectory repeats the church's materials and cornice, reinforcing the unity of the block.","narrative":"Set in a residential part of Williamsburgh in Brooklyn, this brick church faced in brownstone and its neighboring rectory were built for a Congregationalist society organized in 1851 under Thomas K. Beecher, younger brother of preacher Henry Ward Beecher, who gave the keynote address at the 1853 cornerstone laying. Manhattan architect Thomas Little designed the church, completed in 1852-53, with a pedimented temple front, bold quoins, a heavy cornice, and entrances at each end reached by box stoops. Inside, a simple auditorium with galleries gave extra seating and clear views of the preacher; a fire in 1894 destroyed the interior, and J.B. Snook & Sons renovated it while keeping the gallery. The adjoining three-bay rowhouse of 1868 served as the rectory and carries the same brownstone and a matching cornice. Together they show a church fitted into rowhouse surroundings while still marking its public role. The buildings still house a religious congregation.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Thomas Little (church); unknown (rectory)","architectural_style":"Italianate","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use by a religious congregation; condition listed as fair and altered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.303803-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/83001695.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001695/a5ef08d755-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/83001695/a5ef08d755-1600.webp","licence":"CC0","author":"Jim.henderson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NE_Congrl_179_S9_Billyb_jeh.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim.henderson</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:NE_Congrl_179_S9_Billyb_jeh.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318451","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iglesia_Pentecostal_La_Luz_del_Mundo","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5991772"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/brooklyn/new-england-congregational-church-and-rectory-83001695/"}