Old Southeast Church (Brewster)
The Old Southeast Church is a former wooden Presbyterian church building located on a dirt road that leads from New York State Route 22 to the Town of Southeast , New York, a few miles north of Brewster . Erected in the late 18th century and later rebuilt after a fire, it is the oldest church building in Putnam County . The structure is largely intact and is the subject of ongoing conservation efforts.
The church and a small dwarf school nearby are among the few remains of the former hamlet of Doanesville. The structure was listed as the first property in Putnam County on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and is now owned by the Landmarks Preservation Society of Southeast, which occasionally uses it for cultural events.
Building
The church is a two-story building with three by four bays , the facade of which is clad with white clapboards . The windows are arranged regularly, with pull- out windows in each yoke . The projecting church tower rises from the gable roof at the western end , directly above the main entrance.
The entrance leads to a vestibule in the sanctuary of the church. The walls are paneled up to the height of the rows of chairs , as is the parapet on the gallery, the church stalls are painted and grained. The gallery and the ceiling will be supported by Doric columns, the lighting is original and dates from the 19th century.
history
The first church in the area was built as a log cabin in the late 1730s. A prayer house built in timber frame construction, which was built in 1761 according to the strict regulations for such structures and measured 50 by 38 feet (around 15.25 by 17.70 meters), the entrance was south of the pulpit . A few decades later, the community decided to expand again in 1793. It was decided to integrate the existing building into the new building as far as necessary. The new building was completed in 1794.
The structure was badly damaged by fire in 1830. During the reconstruction, changes were made to both the interior and the exterior of the church. The entrance was moved to its current position, the bell tower was built and the balcony was realigned. Two brick chimneys were also dismantled, the remains are still visible inside.
When it was built, the church stood in the middle of the hamlet of Doanesville, then the commercial center of the eastern part of Putnam County. In the mid-19th century, the Harlem Valley Railroad was built, connecting the region more directly to New York City . A route was chosen that passed Doanesville and led through Brewster - the route is still used today by the Metro-North Railroad to Wassaic . Brewster benefited from the railroad and grew, while Doanesville was backward and the church and school are among the few holdovers today.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Old Southeast Church ( English ) Southeast Museum. 1997-1999. Archived from the original on December 5, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
- ↑ a b c Lynn Beebe Weaver: National Register of Historic Places nomination, Old Southeast Church ( English ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . May 19, 1972. Retrieved March 28, 2009.
Coordinates: 41 ° 25'53 " N , 73 ° 34'27" W.