{"nrhp_refnum":"88002750","name":"First Congregational and Presbyterian Society Church of Westport","other_names":["United Church of Christ of Wadhams"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Main St./CR 10","address_restricted":false,"city":"Westport","county":"Essex County","state":"NY","lat":44.23057438400008,"lon":-73.45873559899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1988-12-19","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A vernacular Federal style meetinghouse church built in 1837 in the village of Wadhams, town of Westport, Essex County, New York, with a contributing parish hall on a roughly one-third acre site. Jason Braman built the church, which was moved across the Boquet River in 1866.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is architecturally significant as a rare surviving example of early-nineteenth-century vernacular religious architecture in Essex County, with a pure New England meetinghouse plan. It is also historically significant as the social and religious center of the former milling village of Wadhams Mills. Restrained Victorian alterations from the late nineteenth century complement the original design.","narrative":"This small frame church in the village of Wadhams, Essex County, was built in 1837 by local merchant Jason Braman for the First Congregational and Presbyterian Society of Westport. It follows a simple New England meetinghouse plan: a rectangular hall, a gable roof with slate shingles, a molded wood cornice with returns, two front entrances and a two-tiered belfry. In 1866 the congregation moved the building about 1,000 feet across the frozen Boquet River to lower ground, because the original hilltop site was too steep in winter. Colored glass windows and new pews added in 1898 reflect Victorian taste. In 1901 the church bought a former dance hall with a horse shed below and moved it beside the church to serve as a parish hall. The property is valued as a rare surviving pure example of a New England meetinghouse in the Adirondack foothills and as a long-standing center of religious and social life in the village.","period_of_significance":"1837-1901","architect_builder":"Builder - Jason Braman","architectural_style":"Early Republic/Federal (vernacular Federal style meetinghouse)","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a church (United Church of Christ of Wadhams); the parish hall remains associated with the church.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.615018-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/88002750.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002750/9ec0f3d985-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/88002750/9ec0f3d985-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Magicpiano","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WestportNY_FirstCongregationalChurchAndPresbyterianSociety.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Magicpiano</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:WestportNY_FirstCongregationalChurchAndPresbyterianSociety.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317773","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Congregational_and_Presbyterian_Society_Church_of_Westport","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452872"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/essex-county/first-congregational-and-presbyterian-society-church-of-westport-88002750/"}