First Presbyterian Church, Jamestown
First Presbyterian Church in Jamestown is part of a recent list of recommended properties to be added to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.
State and National Register listing can assist owners in revitalizing properties, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and services, such as matching state grants and federal historic rehabilitation tax credits.
The church, designed by renowned architect Ralph Adams Cram, is one of only three of this master architect’s churches completed in the Neo-Byzantine-Romanesque style. Erected in 1926, First Presbyterian is an outstanding example of traditional building techniques and craftsmanship. The three-aisle, brick and stone edifice features a five-story bell tower, poly-chromed roof trusses and stained-glass windows produced in the studios of Harry Wright Goodhue, Gabriel Loire and the firm of Otto Heinigke and Thorton Smith. The building is highly embellished with limestone details, including Classical moldings, dentils, cornices, scrolls and column capitals. Brick and limestone are used in combination to create decorative stripes and counter-change patterns on the surface of the walls. Blocks of limestone laid in an asymmetrical pattern and bas-reliefs of Christians symbols decorate the street-facing elevations.
New York State continues to lead the nation in the use of historic tax credits, with $7.17 billion in total rehabilitation costs from 2018-2024. Since 2009, the historic tax credit program has stimulated over $16.4 billion in project expenditures in New York State, creating significant investment and new jobs. According to a report, between 2018-2022, the credits in New York State generated 72,918 jobs and over $1.47 billion in local, state and federal taxes.
The State and National Registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects and sites significant in the history, architecture, archaeology and culture of New York State and the nation. There are more than 128,000 historic properties throughout the state listed in the National Register of Historic Places, either individually or as components of historic districts. Property owners, municipalities and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations.
Once recommendations are approved by the Commissioner, who serves as the State Historic Preservation Officer, the properties are listed in the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed by the National Park Service and, once approved, entered in the National Register. More information, with photos of the nominations, is available on the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation website.
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