{"nrhp_refnum":"91001724","name":"Smith Metropolitan AME Zion Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of Smith and Cottage Sts.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Poughkeepsie","county":"Dutchess County","state":"NY","lat":41.70655257000004,"lon":-73.91568679199997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1991-11-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Black","Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Gothic Revival brick church and a brick parsonage at the corner of Smith and Cottage Streets in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. The church was built 1908-10 to designs by Poughkeepsie architect DuBois Carpenter, and the parsonage followed in 1914.","why_significant":"The congregation, established in 1836, is tied to the history of Poughkeepsie's African-American community and served as a social, political and benevolent center. The church also hosted a statewide convention of African Americans in 1863 and counted prominent Black professionals among its members. Architecturally, it reflects the simple, Ecclesiologist-influenced Gothic church design promoted by Richard Upjohn, adapted to the needs of the A.M.E. Zion denomination.","narrative":"At the corner of Smith and Cottage Streets in Poughkeepsie stands a red brick Gothic Revival church with an attached corner bell tower, built between 1908 and 1910 for an African Methodist Episcopal Zion congregation founded in 1836. Poughkeepsie architect DuBois Carpenter designed it, and a donation from philanthropist William W. Smith helped make construction possible. A two-story brick parsonage was added in 1914. The church has pointed-arch stained glass windows, buttressed walls, a slate roof and an interior with exposed wood trusses and dark wood trim. Its simple massing recalls church designs promoted by Richard Upjohn. The congregation earlier hosted an 1863 statewide convention of Black New Yorkers and a 1894 conference where Mrs. A.J. Foote was ordained the first woman deacon in a Methodist denomination. In the twentieth century the church was a social service and leadership center for Poughkeepsie's Black community.","period_of_significance":"1908-1914","architect_builder":"DuBois Carpenter","architectural_style":"Late Gothic Revival (Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals)","criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Church and parsonage remain in religious and residential use; the sanctuary interior is described as well executed and intact, and the parsonage retains a high degree of integrity.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:45.755981-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/91001724.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001724/8fc5bb43ac-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/91001724/8fc5bb43ac-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Pksherpa","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Smith_Metropolitan_AME_Zion_Church_Poughkeepsie_NY.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Pksherpa</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:Smith_Metropolitan_AME_Zion_Church_Poughkeepsie_NY.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75317470","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_Metropolitan_AME_Zion_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7545222"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/dutchess-county/smith-metropolitan-ame-zion-church-91001724/"}