{"nrhp_refnum":"91001436","name":"Stratford Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of US 23 and OH 315","address_restricted":false,"city":"Delaware","county":"Delaware County","state":"OH","lat":40.25629731300006,"lon":-83.06363744799995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-10-03","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Industry"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story limestone church building at U.S. Route 23 and S.R. 315 in Delaware, Ohio, constructed between 1842 and 1844 in the mill village of Stratford, with Early Romanesque Revival elements.","why_significant":"The church is nominated under Criterion A for its links to Industry and Community Planning and Development. Paper mill owners supplied materials and mill workers supplied labor to build it, and it served as the spiritual and social center of the mill village. It is one of the few surviving features of Stratford after the mill structures were lost.","narrative":"Built between 1842 and 1844, this two-story limestone church sits at the corner of U.S. Route 23 and S.R. 315 in Delaware, Ohio. It was the place of worship for Stratford, a mill village that grew around a paper mill. The mill owners provided building materials, mill workers did the construction, and a former mill owner donated the land. Methodists were the largest group in the community, so the church took that denomination. The walls are load-bearing rubble limestone, five feet thick at the base, with a cut-stone arcaded front pavilion and a metal gable roof. After the mill closed in 1896, the congregation relied on nearby farm families. Interior changes in 1938 added a stage, a basement and an east-facing sanctuary. The congregation moved out in the 1960s. The church was listed for its connection to the mill economy and village life, and it now conveys the old community's presence to passing motorists since the mill buildings are gone.","period_of_significance":"1844-1896","architect_builder":"Unknown","architectural_style":"Mid 19th Century; Early Romanesque Revival Elements","criteria":["A"],"status_note":"Function listed as vacant/not in use at the time of nomination; historic use was religious. The congregation moved to a new building in the 1960s and the old church was sold to private owners.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:53:14.842576-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/91001436.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001436/36b1cc94ac-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001436/36b1cc94ac-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stratford_Methodist_Episcopal_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Stratford_Methodist_Episcopal_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71984771","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stratford_Methodist_Episcopal_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7621969"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/delaware-county/stratford-methodist-episcopal-church-91001436/"}