{"nrhp_refnum":"96001434","name":"Blooming Grove Church","other_names":["The Congregational Church of Blooming Grove"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"W side of NY 94, jct. with Old Dominion Rd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Blooming Grove","county":"Orange County","state":"NY","lat":41.40342951100007,"lon":-74.19817443299996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1996-12-06","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story, gable-fronted timber frame church with Federal style features on Route 94 in Blooming Grove, Orange County, New York, built in 1823 by builder Joseph Cromwell on an 8.6 acre parcel historically associated with the congregation.","why_significant":"It is presented as an exceptionally intact example of a Federal era meeting house in Orange County and one of the county's earliest surviving church buildings. Its original interior survives, including box pews, galleries and an extensive marbleized plaster finish described as the most extensive documented. The wood shingle siding reflects the Long Island origins of its founders. Two later changes, the 1902 organ and a 1918 memorial window, are also noted.","narrative":"Set on a rise above Route 94 in Blooming Grove, this timber frame church was built in 1823 by Joseph Cromwell for a congregation founded around 1750 by settlers largely from Suffolk County, Long Island. It replaced a meeting house of 1759, and the graves of three early pastors still lie in a crawl space beneath the floor. The building measures sixty-three by seventy-five feet, with round-arched windows holding thirty-over-thirty sash, paired entrances and a wood shingle exterior. That siding is unusual for the Hudson Valley and echoes Long Island building habits. Inside, the sloped floor, paneled box pews with cherry caps, galleries and a marbleized plaster finish remain largely as first built. The plaster is described as the most extensive example of its kind documented. A pipe organ was added in 1902 and a memorial stained glass panel in 1918. The church is valued as a well-preserved regional example of Federal style meeting house design.","period_of_significance":"1823, 1902, 1918","architect_builder":"Cromwell, Joseph, Builder","architectural_style":"Early Republic / Federal","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still used as a religious property; the building is described as virtually intact from its period of construction, with a ca.1858 schoolhouse and a modern shed on the parcel classed as non-contributing.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.436793-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/96001434.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001434/0fee355cf4-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/96001434/0fee355cf4-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Daniel Case","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Blooming_Grove_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Daniel Case</a>, <a href=\"http://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:Blooming_Grove_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320580","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blooming_Grove_United_Church_of_Christ","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q4928293"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/orange-county/blooming-grove-church-96001434/"}