{"nrhp_refnum":"86001293","name":"Canastota Methodist Church","other_names":["Greystone Community Center"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main and New Boston Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Canastota","county":"Madison County","state":"NY","lat":43.08114456200008,"lon":-75.75487992999996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-05-23","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A large marble church building at the corner of North Main and New Boston Streets in Canastota, Lenox town, Madison County, New York, built in 1909 to designs by the Syracuse firm of Merrick and Randall.","why_significant":"It is a distinctive example of religious architecture in Canastota, embodying Richardsonian Romanesque features such as heavy horizontal massing, rusticated stone and broad rounded arches. It is notable for fine masonry craftsmanship and retains parts of its original Akron Plan interior and Arts and Crafts details. It also recalls the area's past as a fashionable middle-class enclave and the history of the local Methodist congregation.","narrative":"Built in 1909 at the corner of North Main and New Boston Streets, this Pennsylvania white marble church was designed by the Syracuse firm of Merrick and Randall to replace an earlier Methodist church that burned in May 1908. Construction began in May 1909 and finished by year's end at a cost of $31,000. The asymmetrical building shows Richardsonian Romanesque influence in its heavy horizontal massing, rough-hewn stone and rounded-arch openings. A massive corner tower holds the main entrance, though its steeple has been lost. Stained-glass windows and two rose windows mark the elevations. Inside, a two-story auditorium follows the flexible Akron Plan, with a surviving pocket door, a domed ceiling with a stained-glass oculus, and Arts and Crafts stone fireplaces. Although much of the interior has deteriorated, the church remains a prominent local landmark. The Methodist congregation, organized in the 1820s, merged with the Presbyterians in 1965, and the building now serves as a community center.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"Architect: Merrick and Randall (Asa L. Merrick and James A. Randall, Syracuse); stone work: Pennsylvania White Marble Co., Philadelphia; wood work: Fancher and Driscoll, Canastota","architectural_style":"Richardsonian Romanesque (with Arts and Crafts interior decoration)","criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition rated fair; no longer used by the Methodist congregation and now a community center. Many interior features are badly deteriorated, and the original steeple has been lost.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.974677-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/86001293.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001293/4a91986e84-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001293/4a91986e84-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from now in Binghamton, NY","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canastota_Methodist_Church_Sept_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from now in Binghamton, NY</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:Canastota_Methodist_Church_Sept_09.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75313476","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canastota_Methodist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5031218"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/madison-county/canastota-methodist-church-86001293/"}