{"nrhp_refnum":"84003101","name":"First Congregational Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Berkshire","county":"Tioga County","state":"NY","lat":42.30173466600007,"lon":-76.18808071299998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1984-07-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Queen Anne/Victorian Gothic church on the west side of Main Street at Glen Road in the village of Berkshire, Tioga County, New York, completed in 1889 to designs by the Elmira architects Pierce and Dockstader.","why_significant":"The nomination calls it an outstanding example of Queen Anne/Victorian Gothic architecture and one of the most architecturally distinguished buildings in the town. Its tall bell tower and asymmetrical gabled roofline stand out among the modest surrounding houses, and its exterior detail remains intact. The interior uses an Akron Plan layout with diagonal orientation and semi-circular seating.","narrative":"Standing on Main Street at Glen Road in Berkshire, this brick church was completed in 1889 and remains a focal point of the village. Elmira architects Pierce and Dockstader designed it in a blend of Queen Anne and Victorian Gothic styles. The building is roughly square in plan, with an asymmetrical roofline, gabled north and east walls with large Gothic-arched windows, and a square tower at the northeast corner topped by an open belfry and steeple. Corbelled cornices, checkerboard spring courses and stone trim decorate the brick walls, which rise from a rock-faced stone foundation. Inside, semi-circular pews follow a diagonal axis in an Akron Plan arrangement. The congregation formed in 1833, and its first building went up in 1834 on land donated by Stephen Ball. The present church replaced that structure. The exterior is described as unaltered, apart from a non-historic school wing added in 1968. The design also appeared in the architects' published pattern books.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect: Pierce & Dockstader of Elmira, New York; builder unknown","architectural_style":"Queen Anne/Victorian Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still used as a church, with Sunday services; condition listed as good. A single-story church school was added at the west side in 1968.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:43.454462-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/84003101.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003101/64534b7e7b-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/84003101/64534b7e7b-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Delphinium1","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Congregational_Church_of_Berkshire_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Delphinium1</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:First_Congregational_Church_of_Berkshire_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75315104","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Congregational_Church_(Berkshire,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452788"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/tioga-county/first-congregational-church-84003101/"}