Apalachin Community Press, January 2001
Historical Waits Church
Photo of Waits Church
photo by Beverly Brown		 Waits Church and Cemetery Association has applied to put the Waits Church on the State Register of Historic Places. New York State has notified them that the church has been accepted and the nomination has been sent to the keeper of the National Register in Washington, D.C. At the present time, they are waiting to hear from Washington.

The Waits Church on Waite Road (near the intersection of Waits and Valley Roads) in Waits was given to the Cemetery Association and is now a non-denominational church.  
The church, which was built in 1853, is one of the few remaining pre-Civil War Greek Revival style churches which is worthy of saving.
Greek Revival was one of the most popular building styles in the country during the first half of the nineteenth century. It is characterized by a symmetrically shaped building with a low-pitched triangular gable at the front of the building (to suggest the pediment of a Greek temple), a cornice (heavy molding just below the roof), a wide, plain board below the cornice, and either columns or pilasters, which are flat, rectangular supports which resemble columns but only protrude slightly from the wall. Many kinds of buildings were built in this style including schools, churches, stores, post offices, banks, simple farmhouses, and grand Southern homes.

The Waits Church and Cemetery Association is in the process of raising money to redo the foundation and doorsill. They would like to publicly thank the South Side Firemen for doing a Pork Chop BBQ on Saturday, October 28, 2000. They would also like to thank Jennifer Nickels-Simielo and the United Methodist Youth Group of Owego for helping serve the dinner. Their thanks also go out to the Mildred Faulkner Truman Foundation for their donation through Cornell Cooperative Extension's "2000 Make a Difference Day Project."

If anyone would like to make a donation, you may make a check to the Waits Church and mail it to Ruth Klett, 3247 Montrose Turnpike, Owego, New York 13827.