Greene Township Center

the wood detailing is kept to a minimum. The interior has its original shiplapped ceiling and wainscoting, although the bule was flanked by a pair of wide, quarter-turn spiral staircases, one of which has circular attic windows, an intermediate cornice with pointed dentils, a gothic arched doorway and side window topped with projecting hoodmoldings, and corner buttresses. The present belfry, much smaller in size, has replaced the spire with a concave pyramidal roof. The interior contains a vestibule under the steeple, a 500 seat meeting hall, and two lecture rooms, one above the other, which open onto thè rear of the main social hall, and furnace was constructed under the church in 1956.

The parsonage, located to the south of the church, is a standard two-storied, CONDITION UNEXPOSED DETERIORATED EXCELLENT XALTERED FAIR elevations alternate pointed arched windows with gothic pinnacles and buttresses. CHECK ONE plaster walls have recently been covered with wood paneling.The entrance vesti- topped tower with a projecting cornice and paired louvered openings on all four sides. and a projecting gabled hood supported on brackets. The windows are double-hung were added later as classroom entrances. Built in 1975, the house is a non-conforming structure on the church's property. The front elevation features a finial on the gable peak, a central circular window, church is offset with a side steeple.

The original octagonal spire featured a globe wood framed developer's house perched upon an exposed concrete block basement.

settlers. However, the town's specific configuration is unusual. Spatially, the diagonal the building's architect was also the local minister, druggist, and postmaster. Greene Township, purchased from the Connecticut Land Company by Gardner Greene, was first settled in April 1817. Although remaining mostly undeveloped until after the Civil War, the area gained a reputation for its lumber mills and cheese factories which thrived on an abundance of water and grazing land. The town hall was built in 1877 on land owned by C. W. Rice, a descendant of the original settlers. It served as the high school as well as the town's administration building.

With the construction of a new school in 1900, the structure was deeded to the township's trustees who now use it for their meetings as well as for community and donated by R. R.Bascom, a local merchant. The original spire fell during a Methodist, Disciple, and Baptist churches formed the Greene Community Church, Thus, Greene Township Center's significance derives from both the rich history of these two structures and its inhabitants' unique interpretation of the typical Western Reserve town. 1400-1499 ARCHEOLOGY-HISTORIC XARCHITECTURE PERIOD INVENTION activities.

AGRICULTURE SCIENCE XEDUCATION INDUSTRY SCULPTURE ART XRELIGION SIGNIFICANCE THEATER MILITARY LAW LITERATURE In overall conception, Greene Township Center typifies the small Western Reserve _EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT Its arrangement of the major civic,commercial, and religious buildings around _ENGINEERING civic activity. Historically, the church represents the pre-professional era in which _TRANSPORTATION reputed to be the country's first community congregation. formal compositions.