The Memorial United Methodist Church, built in 1895, is located on Grand Avenue between Canada Street and First Street on a narrow lot to the east side of the town green in the village of Swanton, Vermont. The building is a good example of late nineteenth century architecture and is surrounded on the town green by buildings of similar age and significance. The church is a two and one-half story, gable front, corner tower (with two tier belfry,) running bond brick veneer structure with a modern annex addition attached to the rear east facade. Among its distinctive original features are the fenestration patterns which include a large tripartite stained glass window on the front facade and side facade stained glass sanctuary windows. The front facade double door entries on the tower and main block also contribute to the architectural significance of the structure, as they are original. The church also contains many historic interior details such as wainscoting, trim, doors, pews, pulpit and organ. The property retains its integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association.

The Memorial United Methodist Church, built in 1895, is located on Grand Avenue between Canada Street and First Street on a long, narrow lot to the east side of the town green in the village of Swanton, Vermont. The town green is of modest size and is surrounded by civic, religious, commercial and residential buildings of varying styles, but with similar proportions and character ; most of them date from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The two and one-half story, three by five bay, rectangular plan, corner tower, Queen Anne style church has a locally quarried black marble foundation. It is timber framed and sheathed in a running bond brick veneer, which has been painted red. The church has a steeply pitched, slate, gable roof with a single end chimney on the south slope, east facade. The gable roof is supported by a wooden truss system and is abridged on the ends of the gable eave, front facade by a partially engaged, four story tower on the north and west facades and by a gable roof dormer on the south facade.

All first story windows have splayed brick lintels. All attic windows, second story windows and entries have Roman arched brick lintels, with corbelled bases extant only on the west front facade and tower window lintels. All double hung, wood sash and fixed windows have aluminum storms. The eaves have been boxed in with aluminum as well, leaving no wood trim exposed except for entry surrounds.

West Front Facade

Brick wall pilasters with corbelling at the base flank each side of the asymmetrical front facade's center bay. They begin at the vertical mid-point of the first floor main entry surround and extend to the gable eave. The main entry has wood double doors; each door has four recessed panels, the top two of which are opaque glass. To the outside of each door is a paneled surround. Above the doors is a tympanum replete with two circles and three Gothic arches constructed of wood. Above the main entry on the second story is a tripartite window with fanlight made of stained glass which dimensionally exceeds the entry below. The tripartite section of this window depicts a sunset landscape of the Adirondack Mountains. The tripartite window dates from 1996 and the fanlight dates from circa 1895. Centered above the tripartite window is the 1895 date stone of the building. In the gable is a fixed, yellow, stained glass, attic window with five panes, creating a Roman arch motif. To the right of the center bay on the front facade is a second story, one-over-one stained glass window with a Roman arched, double length top sash. The roof above this window is the west slope of the gable roof dormer that faces south. In the gable of this south side facade roof dormer is a semi-circular, clear glass, fixed window.

Tower On the front facade, to the left of the main entry, at the northwest corner of the building, is a four story, partially engaged, square tower with one and one-half story buttresses at the three exposed corners of the tower. The buttresses are made of brick and each one has a coping stone at its mid-point and top. These coping stones are now sheathed in aluminum. The two story engaged, brick section of the tower is surmounted by two, freestanding tiers made of wood: a square plinth and a four sided belfry with an asphalt shingle mansard roof. Each side of the belfry has an open Roman arch, which pierces the cornice of the mansard roof. Above each Roman arch on all four sides of the mansard roof is a pointed arch.

Tower Fenestration: West Front and North side, Facades On the first floor, front facade of the tower is an entry with wood double doors. Each door has five recessed panels. Directly above the doors is a stained glass fanlight. The doors are accessed by four black marble stairs with tubular iron railings at each side. Above the entry on the second story is a one-over-one, stained glass window with Roman arched upper sash. The north side facade of the tower has both a first and second story one-over-one stained glass window replete with Roman arched upper sash. The first story window has an elongated upper sash. Above the second story windows on the tower a false mansard roof creates a transition between the two story brick portion of the tower and the two freestanding tiers above. A pointed arch (framed by the false mansard roof) is present above both second story windows of the tower. The false roof and the two tiers of the belfry are sheathed in aluminum. The false mansard roof and roof of the belfry were wood shingled. The tall square plinth and the belfry proper were originally sheathed in decorative wood trim of various colors providing vertical rhythm and clearly demarcating the different architectural elements of the tower.

South Side Facade

The south side facade is abutted by a single lane asphalt drive. The first story has five, paired, one-over-one windows with opaque glass. The second story has five, paired, one-over-one stained glass windows with a stained glass fanlight above each pair. The second story windows are taller than the first story windows. Centrally spaced between each bay is a two-by-four, running vertically from grade to the cornice. Each one is bolted to the wall, perhaps acting as a makeshift buttress.

North Side Facade

The north side facade is abutted by an asphalt drive. The first and second stories have five, paired windows identical to the description of those on the south facade.

East Rear Facade A gable end, two by three bay, annex, constructed in 1959, is attached to the east rear facade of the church, its roof line is three feet lower than the eave of the church. The north end of the main block gable is aluminum sided.

Annex - Exterior The annex is aluminum sided and is surmounted by an asphalt shingle roof. The south side facade, first floor, main entry has a gable portico supported by brackets. A second story entry on the gable end east facade is served by a metal stairway. All windows are one-over-one, double hung, wood sash with aluminum triple track storms. The annex has an eight room interior plan with classrooms, offices and a large kitchen on the first floor, west end that joins the congregation hall of the main church.

Church - Interior On the interior of the main block, all spaces, which include the congregation hall on the first floor, the sanctuary on the second floor, the stairwells and the vestibule, have their original pine wainscoting and window surrounds. All wood surfaces have been painted with the exception of the wainscoting, windows, doors, their surrounds and the railings and banisters in the stairwells and vestibule.

Vestibule Entering the vestibule through the first floor main entry doors on the front facade, a six panel metal replacement door is directly to the front. This door provides entry to the congregation hall. To the right of the main entry is a small storage closet with a four panel, wood door with surround. To the left of the main entry is a surround at waist level, now infilled. The surround serves a moderately sized storage area, at one time this surround may have been an opening for a coat check. The surround, with its present infill serves as a bulletin board. A very tall, two story stairwell with second floor landing and west front facade window is just beyond the storage closet on the right. Above the wainscoting, all walls and ceilings in the stairwell and vestibule have tongue and groove paneling. The second flight of stairs has a banister with turned newel post and balusters on the right side. At the top of these stairs is a four panel, metal replacement door, facing north and providing entry to the sanctuary.

Congregation Hall Entering the congregation hall through the replacement door from the vestibule one encounters a rectangular space with wainscoting and boxed baseboard on the north and south walls. The hardwood flooring is maple. There is tongue and groove paneling on the walls and ceiling. To the left side of the entry door on the west wall is a storage closet with a four panel Dutch door, this storage area serves the infilled surround in the vestibule, mentioned previously. There are four window bays on the north and south walls. There are three cast iron lally columns that run lengthwise to the east end of the room at equidistant intervals, approximately three feet from the center of the space.

These poles are not decorative and are believed to be a later addition for structural support. The east end wall has an eight panel, wood, pocket door with surround to the south side. A single door surround is to the north side the door has been removed. The east end of the congregation hall is entered through the single door surround. To the left on the north wall is one window bay. To the left of this is a storage closet with a four panel, wood door and surround. The south wall has a modern partition wall made of sheetrock. This partition wall does not rise to meet the ceiling. Behind the partition wall is one window bay. All the walls in this space have wainscoting and there is tongue and groove paneling above this on the walls and ceiling with the exception of the east wall where this space joins the annex kitchen.

Tower Stairwell Entering the sanctuary space from the vestibule stairwell at the southwest corner of the church there is directly across the way a double door entry to the tower stairwell. These doors have been covered with a padded material. The material is fastened to the doors with decorative brass tacks. Descending from the double doors is a single flight of twelve wood stairs with wood railings to either side. The stairwell is replete with wainscoting and tongue and groove paneling on the walls and ceiling. At the bottom of the stairs is a single window on the north wall with the tower's entry doors to the left.

Sanctuary The sanctuary is a large, two story, rectangular, vaulted space. On the west end wall of the sanctuary, in an alcove between the two entry stairwells, is the large tripartite stained glass window. Facing east, to the front of the sanctuary, on the right, just past the vestibule stairwell is a four panel, wood door with surround that provides access to the attic and belfry. The sanctuary is replete with wainscoting and plaster walls above. There are five window bays with very colorful, highly ornate stained glass on both the north and south walls. Each window is unique to the others in the church. Symbolic objects, plants and flowers comprise many of their abstract designs. The windows make for a beautiful, visual religious reference. The vaulted ceiling has false half timbering, with the lateral timbers springing from capitals just above and between the north and south window surrounds. Proceeding to the east end (front) of the sanctuary there are thirteen rows of historic 1880's wooden pews to either side of a center aisle. The pews are made of wood that is pine and oak. The pews are elegantly crafted and have decoratively beveled surfaces on the armrest ends. At the east end of the sanctuary is a two tiered, platform altar made of wood with wood paneled partitions. The western most, front partition is knee high and the proceeding one, several feet behind it is waist high. The altar has several historic objects: a wood pulpit with red Swanton marble inlay and two highly ornate Gothic chairs made of wood. Behind the altar is a large floor to ceiling Roman-arched niche with a 1912 Hinner organ inside it. This organ has in excess of seven hundred pipes and was recently restored. The surround of the organ is made of a beautiful hardwood oak with coffered paneling. To the north side of the altar platform, on the east wall, is a door surround providing entry to the second floor of the annex. To the south side of the altar platform, on the east wall, is a four panel, wood door with surround. All flooring in the sanctuary is linoleum covering a hardwood floor.