{"nrhp_refnum":"95000167","name":"Salem Methodist Episcopal Church","other_names":["First United Methodist Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"244 S. Broadway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Salem","county":"Columbiana County","state":"OH","lat":40.89902704100007,"lon":-80.85520524099996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-03-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A brick Romanesque Revival Akron Plan church at 244 S. Broadway in Salem, Columbiana County, Ohio, built in 1910 to designs by architect J.M. Bostick.","why_significant":"The church is nominated under Criterion C as a significant example of an Akron Plan church in Salem. It retains all the elements that distinguish the plan, including a corner pulpit, radiating aisles, a curving gallery and a Sunday School room with two tiers of classrooms. Its interior in particular shows a high degree of integrity.","narrative":"Built in 1910 at 244 S. Broadway, this Methodist Episcopal church in Salem, Ohio, was designed by architect J.M. Bostick and built by Jacob Meyers and S.J. Fisher. Its rock-faced black brick walls, paired towers, corbeled front gable, round-arch art glass windows and Berea sandstone sills give it a Romanesque Revival character. Inside, it follows a variant of the Akron Plan, a design developed so that Sunday School classrooms could open directly into the main auditorium. Here the pulpit sits in a corner, aisles radiate from it, pews curve across a sloping floor, a gallery wraps the walls, and two tiers of classrooms adjoin the sanctuary. Removable partitions allowed the spaces to be combined for revivals or holiday events. A 1953 brick addition and 1976 changes to the tower roofs altered the exterior, yet the interior remains highly intact. The church was listed for its value as a representative of this Protestant church design.","period_of_significance":"1910","architect_builder":"Bostick, J.M., architect; Meyers, Jacob, & S.J. Fisher, builders","architectural_style":"Late Romanesque Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used for religious purposes; the form lists religious structure as its current function.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:52:07.327156-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_OH/95000167.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000167/430807e7af-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/95000167/430807e7af-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Nyttend","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salem_United_Methodist_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Nyttend</a>, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salem_United_Methodist_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71987208","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Global_Methodist_Church_(Salem,_Ohio)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q14716416"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/ohio/columbiana-county/salem-methodist-episcopal-church-95000167/"}