Location Information
(for the First [United] Methodist Church)
Name:First [United] Methodist Church
Address:310 Washington Street, West
City/County:Greenwood, Leflore County
Architectural Information
Construction Date:1898
Architectural Styles(s):Romanesque
No. of Stories:2
Remodeling Date:1930
Registration Information
NR Listing Date:04 Nov 1985
NR District Name:Downtown Greenwood (2020)
    NR Status:Previously Listed
    Element No.:286a
    MPS:Greenwood Multiple Resource Area
View National Register Nomination Form
Context/Comments
Designed by architect R.H. Hunt, the First Methodist Church of Greenwood is a Romanesque Revival auditorium-plan church built in 1898.

It was individually listed on the National Register in 1985, and was later included as a previously-listed element (element #286a) in the Downtown Greenwood Historic District, which was placed on the National Register in January 2020.

It is included in "Shrines to Tomorrow" (1971), "Historic Churches of Mississippi" (2007) (pp. 46-47), and "Buildings of Mississippi" (2020) (p. 130, DR50).
Brief Description
The First United Methodist Church is a brick, cross-gabled, Romanesque Revival church building. The building has a fortress-like exterior with heavy brick walls, steeply pitched roof, and heavy arches around its doors and windows. The facades are asymmetrical, with polychromatic decoration created with brick and stone. Its principal elevation facing Washington Street has a gable end with a large, arched stain glass window. The building has numerous stone belts dividing the brick facade horizontally. A flat roof arcade, with a brick corbel table, extends across the main facade, marking the entrance into the church. This arcade features three compound arches, decorated with brick archivolts. A tall, square tower marks the corner of the building, near the intersection of Washington and Cotton Streets. The tower has a battlemented parapet and a steep, pyramidal roof. The facades of the tower feature arched and flat-topped windows with stone and brick accents. The upper lights of the arched windows feature stain glass. A second smaller tower occupies the other end of the main facade. A gable wing extends north along Cotton Street. The windows of the building are grouped in units of three, most having round arches with brick surrounds emphasizing the arches.