{"nrhp_refnum":"85003500","name":"Old First Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"126 Main St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Huntington","county":"Suffolk County","state":"NY","lat":40.87445686600006,"lon":-73.41930893599994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1985-11-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Presbyterian church building at 126 Main Street in Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, a timber-framed, shingle-clad structure with a tall belltower, built in the late eighteenth century (the form gives both 1784 and 1794) on a one-acre lot.","why_significant":"The church is described as the oldest extant church in the town of Huntington and the only non-residential eighteenth-century building in the multiple resource area. It is also an outstanding, relatively unaltered example of religious settlement period architecture with classical details. It symbolized the town's recovery after eight years of British occupation during the Revolutionary War.","narrative":"Old First Church at 126 Main Street, Huntington, is a Presbyterian church on a hilltop between the downtown commercial district and a residential neighborhood. It is a two-and-one-half-story timber-framed building with a steeply pitched gable roof, shingle sheathing, and a five-story square belltower topped by an octagonal base, a hexagonal steeple and a weathervane. Classical details include modillioned cornices, an urn-decorated parapet, pilastered door surrounds and lunette windows. The present building is the congregation's third. The first was built in 1665 and the second in 1714. British troops used the second for storage and shelter after 1776 and dismantled it in 1782 to build Fort Golgotha. The surviving church, built after the occupation ended, is regarded as the oldest church in the town and the only non-residential eighteenth-century building in the survey area. A rear addition from about 1900 and two 1970s wings are clad in matching white shingles; the 1970s wings are considered non-contributing.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Religious settlement period architecture with classical details, reflecting New England colonial religious architecture influence","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still in use as a church; condition given as good on the inventory form, with additions from about 1900 and the 1970s (the inventory form checks both good and fair in places, with 'good' marked as the condition).","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.947515-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/85003500.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003500/91524a0345-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/85003500/91524a0345-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from Upstate New York","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_First_Church_Huntington_NY_Mar_10.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from Upstate New York</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Old_First_Church_Huntington_NY_Mar_10.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75314945","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_First_Church_(Huntington,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7083983"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/suffolk-county/old-first-church-85003500/"}