{"nrhp_refnum":"98000547","name":"Vernon Methodist Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Jct. of NY 5 and Sconondoa St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Vernon","county":"Oneida County","state":"NY","lat":43.078701970000054,"lon":-75.54094098099995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-05-20","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A wood-frame Methodist church at the corner of Seneca Turnpike (New York Route 5) and Sconondoa Street in the village of Vernon, Oneida County, New York. It was built in 1892 to a design by architect Melvin H. Hubbard.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a substantially intact, imposing example of eclectic late Victorian religious architecture. It is an important surviving work of regional architect Melvin H. Hubbard. Its intact Akron plan worship space reflects a national trend in late nineteenth-century Protestant church design.","narrative":"Standing on a corner of Vernon's main road, this wood-frame Methodist church was completed in 1892 to designs by Utica architect Melvin H. Hubbard, who specialized in churches. A massive entrance and bell tower with a bellcast slate roof dominates the front, and the walls combine wood shingles with narrow clapboards over a cut stone foundation. Inside, the square sanctuary follows the Akron plan, with black ash pews arranged in a sloping semicircle facing the chancel, a rose-colored glass skylight, and sliding doors that open onto the parish hall. The congregation dates to about 1822 and outgrew its earlier meetinghouse by the 1880s. Alterations in the 1940s removed two small towers and the slate roof, and aluminum siding was added in the 1970s. A restoration begun in 1997 is reversing these changes. The building is valued as a well-preserved example of late Victorian design and of Hubbard's work in central New York.","period_of_significance":"1892-1948","architect_builder":"Melvin H. Hubbard","architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Queen Anne","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Still in religious use; a restoration program begun in 1997 is removing 1970s aluminum siding and reversing mid-twentieth-century alterations.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.582595-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/98000547.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000547/10275200af-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98000547/10275200af-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Agreen54","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vernon_Methodist_Church.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Agreen54</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vernon_Methodist_Church.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320273","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernon_Methodist_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7922190"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/oneida-county/vernon-methodist-church-98000547/"}