{"nrhp_refnum":"85000945","name":"First Methodist Episcopal Church of Alliance, Ohio","other_names":["Christ United Methodist Church,Alliance,Ohio"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"470 E. Broadway St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Alliance","county":"Stark County","state":"OH","lat":40.919433473000026,"lon":-81.09933698499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Romanesque Revival church at 470 East Broadway Street in Alliance, Stark County, Ohio, built in 1895 as the First Methodist Episcopal Church and now Christ United Methodist Church.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the largest, most fully developed and most ornamented Romanesque Revival church in the Alliance area, and a highly intact early example of the \"Akron Plan\" church layout. It is also the last of the later 19th-century downtown Alliance churches. Its brickwork, woodcarving and stained glass are cited, as is the Hillgreen, Lane pipe organ, Opus 1 of that Alliance firm.","narrative":"Rising on a hill at 470 East Broadway Street in Alliance, Ohio, this church was completed in 1895 as the First Methodist Episcopal Church and is now Christ United Methodist Church. It is roughly square, with a tall tower at one corner and smaller towers at others. A lower level of sandstone blocks supports red brick walls, round-arched windows, patterned brickwork, stepped gables and a revolving illuminated cross. Inside, the sanctuary follows the Akron Plan, with Sunday School rooms radiating from a triangular worship space. The original carved pews, woodwork and stained glass survive. The nomination ranks it as the largest and most ornamented Romanesque Revival church in the area and the last of Alliance's later nineteenth-century downtown churches. Its organ was Opus 1 of the Hillgreen, Lane company, founded in Alliance in 1898. A 1919 brick addition stands to the west, and the chancel was updated in 1939.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Lewis Thomas, architect; Edward L. Miller, Superintendent of Stonework","architectural_style":"Romanesque Revival; Akron Plan church","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a church; the interior has had slight modifications, and the chancel was modernized in 1939. A three-story brick addition was built in 1919.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.404114-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/85000945.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000945/2bfb667ec1-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85000945/2bfb667ec1-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Sanfranman59","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(Alliance,_OH).JPG\" rel=\"noopener\">Sanfranman59</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(Alliance,_OH).JPG"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100001588","name":"East Main Street Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/ohio/east-main-street-historic-district-100001588/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71991364","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Methodist_Episcopal_Church_(Alliance,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5453298"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/stark-county/first-methodist-episcopal-church-of-alliance-ohio-85000945/"}