Salem Evangelical Reformed Church

Salem Evangelical Reformed Church was a church in the Broadway-Fillmore neighborhood of Buffalo, New York.

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In the early 1870s, members of the Zion Reformed Church on Lemon Street in Buffalo raised concerns about the distance they were traveling from their residences to attend services. ¹ Plans were set forth to establish a new congregation under the Reverend J.B. Kneist.

In April 1873, 25 charter members, all of German descent, organized Salem Evangelical Reformed Church. ¹ A small lot was purchased at 413 Sherman Street, and a frame building was erected at the cost of $3,062. The building was doubled in size in 1886.

With all debts retired and the current frame structure at capacity, the church initiated a building fund for a new church building in November 1901. ¹ The ground was broken for the new sanctuary in 1907 with a cornerstone laid on July 14. Designed by Jacob Oberkircher, the new $30,000 church was dedicated on February 16, 1908.

The Sunrise Congregation later used the church until the group could no longer afford to heat the building. ² Services were then held in the adjoining minister’s residence until 2009.

The derelict building was purchased in 2011 for $1,000 by a New York City-based investor Kabir Mohammad. ³ Mohammad had planned to convert the building into a community center. No work towards that endeavor was completed. In 2017, after the interior collapsed, the former Zion Reformed Church was demolished.

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Sources

1. Napora, James. “Houses of Worship: A Guide to the Religious Architecture of Buffalo, New York.” Buffalo as an Architectural Museum, 1995, article.
2. “Salem Evangelical: In the ‘hood and off the radar.” FixBuffalo, 16 Jan. 2012, article.
3. “Council ready to lay down the law to out-of-town owner of rotting church.” Buffalo News, 28 Jun. 2016, article.