{"nrhp_refnum":"99001485","name":"St. Francis DeSales Church","other_names":["Lexington Historical Society"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Church St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Lexington","county":"Greene County","state":"NY","lat":42.23904021000004,"lon":-74.36096248799998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-12-09","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A small single-story, light-frame Gothic Revival church on Church Street (Church Road) in Lexington, Greene County, New York, built in 1895 and now used as a museum by the Lexington Historical Society.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is an intact, representative example of late nineteenth-century Gothic Revival rural church architecture, shaped by ecclesiology ideas and the work of Richard Upjohn. It is also described as an outstanding local example of church design serving the tourist economy of the northern Catskills. It retains a high degree of integrity, including original interior finishes and windows.","narrative":"This small wooden church sits on the south side of Church Road in Lexington, Greene County, New York. Built in 1895 on a four-by-one-bay plan, it has light frame construction, narrow clapboard siding, a steeply pitched gable roof with asphalt shingles, and pointed-arch windows that keep their original sash and glazing. Inside, varnished matchstick wainscoting, polished wood scissor trusses and original flooring survive, and the church was never fitted with pews; Victorian wood chairs were used instead. The building was erected by a parish that grew as the Catskills shifted from a tanning economy to a railroad-fed tourist trade that brought Catholic laborers to the region. Its simple plan, steep roof, scissor-truss framing and Gothic arched openings reflect ecclesiological ideas promoted by architects such as Richard Upjohn. It is valued as an intact local example of rural church design from the tourist era. It no longer serves as a church and now houses a local historical society museum.","period_of_significance":"1895","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Late Gothic","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"No longer serves a religious role; current function is museum. Restoration of the original open porch was underway at the time of the form.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.279916-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/99001485.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001485/eb5db57445-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99001485/eb5db57445-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"RobertDrake2015","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:St_Francis_DeSales_Church_5-14-2016.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">RobertDrake2015</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:St_Francis_DeSales_Church_5-14-2016.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318047","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Francis_de_Sales_Catholic_Church_(Lexington,_New_York)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7587947"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/greene-county/st-francis-desales-church-99001485/"}