Nomination for St. John's Episcopal Church

From the form

The catalogue entry the section above was filed under.

Form 10-300 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM (Type all entries - complete applicable sections) FEB 2 8 1973 Saint.John"s Episcopal Church AND/ OR HISTORIC: (Check One) - In Process - Preservation work PRESENT USE (Check One or More as Appropriate) - Comments - Other (Specify) OWNER'S NAME: 1 Lakeside North East REPRESENTATION (N EXIST INGSURVEYS TITLE OF SURVEY: DATE OF SURVEY: - Local DEPOSITORY FOR SURVEY RECORDS: Co lumbus 039 035 LOCATION Religious STATE Site Commercial DATE NAME District REGISTER Both NATIONAL Government Entertainment Private ACCESSIBLE CATEGORY Transportation Louis Stokes Cuyahoga County Unoccupied STATUS Museum Educational Federal CODE Structure Yes: CLASSIFICATION Restricted Ohio Historical Center COMMON: Agricultural Ohio Historical Society Ohio Historic Landmarks Park Scientific Ohio Congressional District:21 Being Considered Industrial Private Residence Cuyahoga County Court House 2600 Church St.

Military ENTRY NUMBER Public Public Acquisition: Cleveland NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES Object STREET AND NUMBER: 5. LOCATION OF LEGAL DESCRIPTION OWNER OF PROPERTY CITY OR TOWN: TO THE PUBLIC FOR NPS USE ONLY EFB 1g-1973 OWNERSHIP COURTHOUSE, REGISTRY OF DEEDS, ETC: (July 1969) RECEIVED DESCRIPTION - Deteriorated - Unexposed - Unaltered - Moved X Original Site DESCRIBE THE PRESENT AND ORIGINAL (if known) PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Description of the property

ISt. John's Episcopal Church is a fine example of the Early English The church was completed in1838.~ sandstone. The entrance door plus the nave windows, which are all of the Gothic pointed arch motif, are trimmed in a local white limestone. The exterior doors and sash are of pine wood, as are the frames. Most of the original glazing has had to be replaced, and the windows are In 1866 a fire completely burned out the interior, leaving only the the steeper pitch. The bell tower has also been modified as a result of kea FEB 1 5 1973 CONDITION REGISTER Excellent NATIONAL Ruins roof was retained. buttresses with setbacks and sloping caps mark the divisions of the Fair rectangular nave are all outstanding characteristics of this period.

This deep basement served as the first enclosure for the church while the out in five bays which are each fifteen feet wide.The rectangular retains the shallow pitch on the interior while the exterior expresses stained glass in wood sash. The exterior walls are of random ashlar sandstone blocks that were walls above grade were being constructed. bays on the exterior nave wall.Octagonal turrets give emphasis to The entrance to the church is raised on a stepped platform which is of The building measures forty-five feet by seventy-five feet and is laid ninety feet from the narthex floor.

interior octagonal columns which are partially enclosed in the wall the four corners of the building as well as the four corners of the quarried from the Cuyahoga River which is a half mile from the site of the motif plus the central bell tower rising over the narthex and the The interior of the church has been redone and as a result has tornado resulted in the removing of the bell which now sits in a room Good (Check One) shored-up by additional framing of steel beams and tie-rods but iotn? sandstone and limestone and continue to a depth of 14 feet below grade. sixteen feet and is supported on two exterior octagonal columns and two walls.The seating was redone in a cruciform plan with the addition of a a shallow pitch and is now the structural backing for the ceiling which three story bell tower.The turrets of the tower originally rose on the west side of the narthex.

The bell tower is sixteen feet by from 16 inches to 18inches thick.The foundation walls are also of building.The blocks are laid in courses of irregular widths ranging Form 10-300a UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR NATIONAL PARK SERVICE NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES INVENTORY - NOMINATION FORM FOR NPS USE ONLY ENTRY NUMBER SAINT JOHN'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH 7. lost much of its rich interior wall decorations. Early articles designs but none of this remains, the ceiling and walls have the walls to give additional light.

FEB 1 5 1973 DATE COUNTY Cuyahoga STATE REGISTER (Continuation Sheet) Ohio NATIONAL (Number all entries) describe the interior as being painted dark blue with ecclesiastical is vaulted under the steeper exterior roof.It is supported on the process of being restored, since it is the original tracker plastered walls are painted white and trimmed at the bottom by to form an apse for the altar with thin windows recessed into trusses which bear upon the buttressed walls at the buttress wood purlins which run parallel to the main axis of the church.

These purlins are supported on ornate red oak hammer beam red oak corbel which extends eight feet down the walls.The been painted a plain white.The ceiling is a level plane which exterior wall has been finished in a beige brick and the interior (July 1969) a four foot six inch wainscoat of red oak.The pews and pulpit points.There is no indication of vertical support on the The north end of the building was severely damaged by the tornado plastered and painted white.The wall was also slightly extended interior except for continuation of the truss into a decorated organ that was installed shortly after the church was completed RECEIVED are also of the carved red oak as is the organ.The organiis in in 1838.

Statement of significance

Civil War era, the church served as the last stop in the under- He migrated from his birthplace of South Mansfield, Conn. to Weedsport, N.Y.; Rochester, N.Y. and then to Cleveland, Ohio. contracting. In addition to this building, he is also credited is Saint John's Episcopal Church, which remains a monument to the FEB 1 5 1973 Architecture Commerce Conservation Art REGISTER Communications Aboriginal NATIONAL Transportation Agriculture losophy itarian Theater Sculpture Political one of the most accomplished works of the architect-builder RECEIVED Saint John's Episcopal Church is also significant because it was them to freedom in Canada.The church still contains tiered parish commissioned the building from Hezekiah Eldredge in 1836.

It was Eldredge who designed and built the church which was Saint John's Episcopal Church is the oldest church standing in with designing and constructing in the Cleveland area the Ohio During this period he acquired a reputation as a fine carpenter where the slaves would hide and await the ships from Canada.It Religion/Phi. Erie.Also the deep basement afforded an ideal place to hide levels and adjoining side rooms in the three story bell tower the slaves until the ships arrived. and was forty years old at the time of the designing of this church.

Cuyahoga County and is still in use as an active church.The was because of the height of the bell tower that they were able completed in the fall of 1838.The building served its function to see the ship'slights at night as it waited off shore in Lake Hezekiah Eldredge.Hezekiah E1dredge was born on April 3,1795 Baptist Meeting House Pearl Street City Exchange the Cleve1and Center the SPECIFIC DATE(S) (If Applicable and Known) and probably from this success he turned to building design and numerous warehouses and canal boats that served along the genius of its former charter member Hezekiah Eldredgebl L!?

1836-1838 Military Industry Literature Music Landscape Engineering Cuyahoga River front.The only building that remains standing Invention well through the ages and the church remained intact.In the AREAs OF SIGNIFICANCE (Check One or More as Appropriate) Campen, Richard, Architecture of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, Ohio, Press of Case Western University, 1971, p. 36. Historic American Building Survey, Fourteen Structures In and Around Cleveland, Western Reserve Historical Society, 196/.

The rest of the file

Bibliography, boundary description, and the people who prepared and reviewed the nomination.

GEOGRAPHICAL DATA LATITUDE AND LONGITUDE COORDINA TES DEFINING THE CENTER POINT OF A PROPERTY DEFINING A RECTANGLE LOCATING THE PROPERTY OF LESS THAN TEN ACRES W 81° 42" 29.5 FEB 1 5 1973 FORM PREPARED BY Park L. Rankin STATE LIAISON OFFICER CERTIFICATION NATIONAL REGISTER VERIFICATION tional Historic Preservation Act of 1966 (Public Law 89-665), I hereby nominate this property for inclusion evaluated according to the criteria and procedures set level of significance of this nomination is: ATTEST 039 LATITUDE Degrees LONGITUDE Name Minutes Seconds 9/4/72 DATE COUNTY ORGANIZATION Local STATE Degrees Minutes Seconds NATIONAL CORNER CODE Kent MAJOR BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES STREET AND NUMBER: National Register.

NAME AND TITLE: I hereby certify that this property is included in the As the designated State Liaison Officer for the Na- in the National Register and certify that it has been CITY OR TOWN: N 41° less than an acre Rusk, "Hezekiah Eldredge, Architect-Builder of Saint John's," Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, March, 1966, pp. 50-58. APPROXIMATE ACREAGE OF NOMINATED PROPERTY: forth by the National Park Service. The recommended Title REGISTER 250 S. River St. #C-17 2.15. 73.2273 FEB 2 3 197 ARCHEOLOGIST Entered HISTORIAN Send-back Re-submit Maps KEEPER Photos TECH REVIEW ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN Federal Register entry CONTROL REVIEW WORKING NUMBER National Register write-up REVIEW UNIT CHIEF BRANCH CHIEF Shu SHAKER HEIGHTS, OHIO 44122 18310 SCOTTSDALE BLVD.

PHOTOGRAPHER 991-1599 MARTIN LINSEY PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER SHAKER HEIGHTS, OHIO 44122 991 - 1599 PHOTOGRAPHER PROPERTY OF THE NATIONAL REGISTER MARTIN LINSEY NPS Number 18310 SCOTTSDALE BLVD. Form 10-301 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR (July 1969) NATIONAL PARK SERVICE FOR NPS USE ONLY (Type all entries -attach to or enclose with map) STREET AND NUM BER: FEB 1 5 1973 TO BE INCLUDED ON ALL MAPS 1. Property broundaries where required. 2. North arrow. 3. Latitude and longitude reference.

035 1953-1963 NAME 039 COUNTY DATE STATE COMMON: Cuyahoga REGISTER Ohio CODE Cleveland SOURCE: SCALE: NATIONAL United States Geological Survey ENTRY NUMBER NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES MAP REFERENCE AND/OR HISTORIC: PROPERTY MAP FORM REQUIREMENTS 1:24,000 CITY OR TOWN: 2600 Church Street Saint John's Episcopal Church DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR CLEVELAND SOUTH QUADRANGLE UNITED STATES CLEVELAND SOUTH, OHIO GEOLOGICAL SURVEY FEB 1 5 1973 7.5 MINUTE SERIES (TOPOGRAPHIC N4593190 FEB 2 3 1973 Old Stone Presbyterian Church Hon. William B. Saxbe Mx. Daniel R. Porter Ton. Robert Taft, Jr.

NRowland: mm STATE PHR Name ENTRIES IN THE NATIONAL REGISTER 2/23/73 Date Entered Washington County Also Notified Director Director, Northeast Region Cuyahoga County Atwater Congregational Church State Liaison Officer Portage County Clevoland Detroit Avenue Bridge Saint John'a Epincopal Church Rocky River - Lakovood fion, Clarence E. Mill0z Location Hon.Louis Stokes