{"nrhp_refnum":"96001386","name":"First Presbyterian Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"E. Main St., E of jct. with NY 96","address_restricted":false,"city":"Waterloo","county":"Seneca County","state":"NY","lat":42.90396637500004,"lon":-76.86049116499998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-11-29","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A Romanesque Revival brick church on the south side of East Main Street in the village of Waterloo, Seneca County, New York. The main body was built in 1850-51 and a chapel was attached in 1880-81.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is architecturally significant as a distinguished example of Romanesque Revival religious architecture in Waterloo. It displays round-arched openings and corbelled brick cornices, and it is the congregation's second permanent house of worship, built during the canal era. The interior survives substantially intact.","narrative":"This brick church on East Main Street in Waterloo, New York, was built in 1850-51 for the village's Presbyterian congregation. It is a large Romanesque Revival building with limestone trim, two 90-foot corner towers with octagonal spires, round-arched stained-glass windows and several rose windows. A one-and-one-half story chapel was attached to the east side in 1880-81, and memorial stained-glass windows were added in 1909. Inside, the sanctuary keeps its original plaster walls, wainscoting and butternut pews. The congregation first met in a schoolhouse and the courthouse around 1821, then built a Federal style frame church in 1824, soon after the Cayuga-Seneca Canal reached the village. That building was sold in 1850, and the new church was erected by builder Henry C. Vreeland for about $26,000. The architect is unknown. The church is listed for its architecture, as a distinguished local landmark that remains in use for worship.","period_of_significance":"1850-1909","architect_builder":"Architect unknown; built by Henry C. Vreeland, identified as \"Master Builder\"","architectural_style":"Late Victorian: Romanesque Revival","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in use as a house of worship; the congregation has dwindled but the church remains a relatively vital house of worship.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.714548-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/96001386.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001386/0216e06d3d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001386/0216e06d3d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 2.0","author":"Doug Kerr from now in Binghamton, NY","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Presbyterian_Church_Waterloo_Aug_09.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Doug Kerr from now in Binghamton, NY</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 2.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:First_Presbyterian_Church_Waterloo_Aug_09.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"100000895","name":"Waterloo Downtown Historic District","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/new-york/waterloo-downtown-historic-district-100000895/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75321826","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Presbyterian_Church_(Waterloo,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q8563368"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/seneca-county/first-presbyterian-church-96001386/"}