St. John's Lutheran Church
Why it's listed
St. John's Lutheran Church at Market and North Seventh Streets in Zanesville is a Late Gothic Revival building of tapestry brick trimmed with cast-in-place and precast concrete. Completed from 1926 plans by the Cleveland firm Corbusier, Lensky, & Foster, it has a multicolored slate gable roof, hexagonal corner towers with crenellated peaks, three stained-glass lancet windows on the facade, and a ten-sided roof over the apse. A 1949 educational wing, designed by engineer Harold O. Church and built by Dunzweiler Construction Co., repeats the form, materials and trim of the original, giving a U-shaped plan. It is the fourth church built by a congregation that organized in 1839. Its architect, John W. C. Corbusier, trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts and became a national authority on church design, and this is his firm's only known work in the city. Builder E. Mast and Sons was a local contracting firm. The precast concrete ornament is the only example of its kind in Zanesville.
Significance in brief: The nomination cites architectural significance to Zanesville because of the prominence of its Cleveland architects, Corbusier, Lensky, & Foster, and its builder, E. Mast and Sons. It is also noted for the only use of precast concrete ornament of this kind in the city. It is described as an excellent example of Late Gothic Revival church architecture.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 82001484, listed December 2, 1982. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Market and N. 7th Sts., Zanesville |
|---|---|
| County | Muskingum County |
| Listed | December 2, 1982 |
| Reference number | 82001484 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1900- |
| Architect / builder | Corbusier, Lensky, & Foster, architects; E. Mast and Sons, builder |
| Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival |
| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Occupied and in use as a religious building; condition listed as excellent, though the precast concrete ornament is described as weathered and somewhat deteriorated. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Muskingum River Navigation Historic District |
| Coordinates | 39.94204, -82.00413 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
Religious properties are listed for their architectural or historical significance, not their religious use. Listing is honorary and does not restrict the congregation's use of the building. The federal rehabilitation credit is generally unavailable unless part of the building is income-producing; some state programmes and preservation grants do cover religious buildings. Federal funding or permits trigger Section 106 review.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 82001484.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q7588781
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.