One of the most recognizable buildings in Salem (especially in the month of October) is the former East Church, now occupied by the Salem Witch Museum. The former East Church was constructed between 1844 and 1846 for the oldest branch of the First Church of Salem, which originally organized in 1718. The stunning Gothic Revival church has been credited to architect Minard Lafever (1798-1854), a prominent New York architect known for his Gothic, Greek and other Exotic Revival style buildings, including the First Unitarian Congregational Society in Brooklyn designed at the same time as the East Church in Salem and strikingly similar in design. The church suffered from a massive fire in the early 20th century and the church eventually moved out in the 1950s. Before this, the church truncated the two castellated towers likely as a cost-saving measure as opposed to restoring them. The building was occupied by the Salem Auto Museum until another fire in 1969. In 1972, the Salem Witch Museum moved in and completely updated the interior (not much was original after the two fires). The museum is a huge draw in the month of October, for obvious reasons!