{"nrhp_refnum":"86001887","name":"South Harwich Methodist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"270 Chatham Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Harwich","county":"Barnstable County","state":"MA","lat":41.67782080200004,"lon":-70.04635116999998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1986-08-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A one-story, gable-roofed clapboard Methodist church built in 1836 at 270 Chatham Road, South Harwich, on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with an adjoining burying ground on a 2.39-acre lot.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it reflects the growth of Methodism in Harwich and is a well-preserved example of the simple rectangular-plan Cape Cod churches of the early 19th century. It combines Greek Revival and Gothic Revival features, lacks a tower, and retains a notably intact interior with original trompe l'oeil wall coverings, pews, pulpit and light fixtures.","narrative":"Built in 1836 at the intersection of Chatham, Deep Hole and Old County Roads in South Harwich, this Methodist church is a simple clapboard building, thirty-seven by forty-five feet, with its gable end facing the street and no tower. Greek Revival pilasters and a returned cornice are combined with Gothic Revival lancet-headed windows and doors. Inside, original pews, a pulpit, nineteenth-century lamp fixtures and trompe l'oeil wall paintings survive. A burying ground with about 400 gravestones, the earliest from 1829, surrounds the building. The congregation began as Reformed Methodist, turned Wesleyan and abolitionist in 1845, and returned to the Methodist Episcopal fold after a schism and an auction of the building in 1857. Many members were sea captains. The church is considered one of the oldest surviving Methodist churches on Cape Cod and is among the best preserved of its period. It was listed for its religious history and its architecture, with significance at the local level.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Greek Revival and Gothic Revival","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Condition is listed as excellent and unaltered; the congregation held its last service in 1984.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:13:01.894917-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/82/7940/63794082/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_MA/86001887.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001887/67222493ce-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/86001887/67222493ce-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jerry Johnson","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:South_Harwich_Methodist_Church_(2).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jerry Johnson</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:South_Harwich_Methodist_Church_(2).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/63794082","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Harwich_Methodist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7567432"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/massachusetts/barnstable-county/south-harwich-methodist-church-86001887/"}