First Methodist-Episcopal Church, South

The First Methodist-Episcopal Church, South, is located at 314 W. Canadian in Vinita, Oklahoma. Vinita became an important regional agricultural service center in the Territorial Era, a status that lasted well past the 1907 statehood. Most of the town's early residential development occurred around "South Park," or Block 70 of the original town, southwest of downtown. Typically, Indian Territory churches were prominent in any town's development. Vinita's original churches, like those of other towns, were scattered throughout the primary residential district and were of wood-frame construction with a Victorian or Gothic Revival appearance; almost without exception, these original buildings were razed in the early 1900s and replaced with substantial brick buildings. The First Methodist-Episcopal Church, South, of Vinita, Oklahoma was constructed in 1920-1922 by the congregation and its Board of Trustees, replacing an earlier frame church. The present church building was constructed on Lot 11 of Block 51 in 1920-1922. The First Methodist-Episcopal Church, South, is significant within the architectural context of Vinita, Oklahoma, because it is the community's best, most intact example of classical Revival-style architecture, and because it represents a period of public building in Vinita.

Since the Methodist Church is the community's only extant example of its resource type, that being early twentieth-century church architecture and plan, Criteria consideration A is applied to this resource. The First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, is a very important example of the city's historic architecture. The church maintains excellent integrity of location, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, all criteria that are missing from other buildings of the period. With the exception of the courthouse (NR listed in 1984] (altered), the Christian Science Reading Room (altered), and a few downtown business buildings (altered), the church is the only extant example of its resource type (stone and brick church buildings) and of the period of public building in Vinita that extended from the 1890s until 1929. The First Methodist-Episcopal Church, South, is the best example of a classical Revival style public building in Vinita and is the only remaining intact example of historic church architecture in Vinita. As such, the First Methodist-Episcopal Church, South, is eligible for listing in the National Register under Criterion C for its architectural significance.