Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack
The Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack is a church building on New York State Route 9H at the north end of the hamlet of Claverack , New York , United States . The brick structure was erected in the middle of the 18th century and renewed and expanded twice in the 19th century. The church was given its current appearance in 1879, but the parish was founded in 1716.
It is the oldest public building of its kind in Columbia County and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001, along with several associated outbuildings and the cemetery where, among others, one of George Washington's assistants and a former chairman of the New York State Assembly are buried are.
estate
The church complex is located on 69,000 square feet of land on the west side of Route 9H, approximately 200 yards north of the intersection with New York State Route 23 and New York State Route 23B in downtown Claverack. The church is located on a small hill about twenty meters from the road, from which it is separated by tall trees around a paved access road and a parking lot. The surrounding area has a rural character in the north and is used for residential purposes, while there are large plots in the south . Also further south on the same side of Route 9H is the George Felpel House , which is also on the National Register.
There are three other buildings on the property south of the church: a garage, the rectory and the Christian Education Center. The cemetery covers most of the property and is north of the church, a small stone-walled shed is in the center of the cemetery. All structures on the property with the exception of the Christian Education Center and the cemetery are considered to be contributing to the entry in the National Register.
church
The one-story church building has a facade made of bricks, which are bricked in the English compound and sit on a stone base. The roof is a steeply inclined gambrel roof , on the eaves of which there is a cornice and the lower bevel is flanged at the lower edge. The main wing of the building measures 21.35 m by 29.30 m and a two-tier church tower with four floors is attached in the center of the south side. Near the rear there are two smaller wing structures on either side that serve as a transept and both have entrances. In the north of the building there is a protrusion that accommodates the apse . On this side there are two internal chimneys.
On the south side of the facade, the church tower is connected to the main block by a pass with three bays and a gable triangle . The double doors of the tower, which is flanked by segmental arches on the porch, serve as the main entrance to the church. There are three arched openings on each floor of the south side of the tower. Openings on the fourth floor of the church tower on the other three sides were visibly walled up. A deep-drawn cornice supports the square bell tower , flanked by fluted Doric columns with embossed arched openings and the domed roof with the high finial.
The east and west sides have three high arched windows south of the transept, which are framed by louvered wooden shutters . The west side also bears the number "1767" above the windows, which was painted on the bricks to resemble iron numerals. On the north side there are two windows that are similar to those on the other sides, as well as two smaller oval windows in the pediment triangle.
From the tower entrance on both sides of the church tower, steps lead to the vestibule with a second pair of double doors that open into the barrel- vaulted sanctuary of the church. The interior of the church is mainly done with white plaster base and simple woodwork. Two corridors allow access to the church stalls with the end panels, rounded upper edges and panel doors to the seats. The balconies on either side are supported by decorative cast iron columns.
The pulpit at the north end rises in a niche between a pair of pilasters under a semicircular gable. The stairs to the triforium have an S-shaped spiral at both ends. The organ body in neo-Gothic style is on the southern wall of the gallery and the pipe organ is original.
Outbuildings
The Christian Education Center is located directly southeast of the church building. It is a two-story brick Colonial Revival- style building with a gable roof and a small entrance porch on its southwest side. The structure is similar in style to the church, but is from a recent era and is therefore not contributing .
About 120 m south of the church, across two parking spaces, is the rectory . It is a two-story house built in timber frame construction with three high heights, the outside of which is plastic-clad. It has a gable triangle on the front gable and the one-year entrance veranda in the north is supported by square posts. The two western bays on the north and south sides have one-story side wings and on the east side there is a two-story veranda. Brick chimneys rise at the north end of the north side wing and in the middle of the south facade.
Inside there is an open fireplace in the basement and there is a draw well near the front door. The interior of the building was hardly changed, only a washroom on the ground floor was added. The outer windows have been replaced with modern, similarly designed pieces.
To the northeast of the rectory is a small garage with a gable roof, which was built in the early 20th century and is considered to be a contributing factor. The only other contributing outbuilding is a small stone shed in the middle of the cemetery. It is located about 15 m north of the church. This building was also built at the beginning of the 20th century.
graveyard
The cemetery covers an area of 69,000 square meters. It is located mostly north of the church, but surrounds the church to the east and west. It is laid out in a grid, narrow, grass-covered paths allow access to the graves.
The gravestones date from the 18th century to the present day, some of the particularly elaborate gravestones date from the beginning of the 19th century. There are some stone tombs just north of the church . The following are buried in the cemetery:
- Gene. Samuel Blachley Webb (1753-1807). During the Revolutionary War, he led a riot troop from Wethersfield, Connecticut , who participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill . He became one of George Washington's aides-de-camp and then took part in the battles of Long Island , White Plains and Trenton - he was wounded in White Plains and Trenton. Captured in 1777 by the British and exchanged it a year later. After the war he settled in Claverack.
- Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer (1767-1835) was a prominent Federalist politician who was elected to the New York State Assembly for nine terms and was also Speaker of Parliament in his final term. He left this position to lead a unit in the War of 1812 that was deployed to protect New York City . After the war, he was New York's Secretary of State and, in 1821, a member of the State Legislative Assembly.
- Harriet Livingston Dale (1785–1826), Robert Fulton's widow , moved to England after her husband's death. After her death, her body was taken to Claverack and buried.
history
The history of the Church can be divided into three sections. From the time it was founded just before the American Revolution , the church was looking for a permanent building. During the following century, the church was expanded from a simple brick building to the current building complex. After that, the community facilities were improved and maintained.
1716–1767: the early years
Claverack's Church was among the first to be built by the Dutch Reformed Church in the Hudson Valley . It began in 1716 as a place of worship on the way from Claverack Landing on the Hudson River (now the City of Hudson) to the west and Hillsdale to the east. The first church was built in 1727, near the site where the former Columbia County Courthouse is now.
Emigrants from the Electoral Palatinate began to settle in the area and allowed the parish to grow, so that a new building was necessary within four decades. Stephen van Rensselaer donated the property in February 1767, on which the current church is located. In November of that year, a local craftsman named Solomon Strong had completed the church and it was turned over to use. Lore in the van Rensselaer family history indicates that the bricks were brought from the Netherlands by Hendrick van Rensselaer , but this is unlikely because at that time there was a brick factory and the bricks used to build the church correspond to those of other buildings whose bricks were burned in that brickworks.
The original church was a much smaller structure. It only included the ten meters to the south of today's building without the protruding front gable triangle and the tower. Evidence in the church records indicates that there was a small wooden bell tower with a bell.
1768–1879: growth and development of the community
In the first decade after the new church was built, the congregation gained its most influential pastor. At the beginning of the American Revolution , John Gabriel Gebhard fled New York City to Kingston and sought refuge in Claverack after the British set the Kingston on fire in October 1777. He then became the pastor of the Church.
In 1779, during the Revolutionary War, he began the founding and construction of Washington Seminary south of the church on the property. This educational institution later became known as Claverack College , where studied from Martin Van Buren , Stephen Crane and Margaret Sanger , among others , before it closed in 1902.
The year after the college was founded, the church was changed. Doors were added to the pews in order to hold back the warmth of the foot stoves brought by the worshipers during the winter months. In 1810 a large metal stove was installed in the church so that the faithful no longer had to provide the heating themselves. Six years later, when the parish began to grow again, more space was needed again in 1816. In the following decade, the church was enlarged by adding the present northern part and wings, as well as the exits at the rear to the cemetery. Inside, the balconies and the loft of the choir as well as iron columns were added, the walls were newly plastered. The pews have been rearranged and given their current arrangement. Finally, in 1828, the bell tower was added in memory of Gebhard. He had died the previous year after serving the church for fifty years.
The rectory was designed and built in 1844. It was the first major structure on the property since the church itself was built. Ten years later, the interior of the church was renovated. The north end of the church was enlarged again, the floor was lowered and the walls and floors were renewed. The pews were rearranged so that they all faced north, where the gallery for the church choir was built - an originally planned balcony at this end was not realized.
In the following decade the musical needs of the parish were met. The first organ was installed in 1867, and five years later it was replaced by a pipe organ. In 1879 the 680 kg bell that was hung in the Meneely Bell Foundry in West Troy (now Watervliet ). This addition is considered to be the last historically significant change to the church building.
1880 – present: further growth
The other two contributing structures were added around the same time. A garage was built for the rectory and a stone-built shed was built in the cemetery. At some point in the early 20th century, modern central heating was installed. After Claverack College closed in 1902, its bell was hung at the foot of the entrance to the church. It is not considered contributing.
In 1930 electrical lighting was installed, the design of these lamps being based on the older oil lamps . A decade later, in 1940, the organ was renovated. The sanctuary was carpeted in 1955, the church bell was equipped with an electric control in 1958, and a year later a new electric Allen organ was completed.
In 1967 the parish had another building erected on the property, the Christian Education Center. The building, built in a suitable architectural style, is located southeast of the church and is used as an office building as well as for some other community activities, such as Sunday school or community meetings . In April 2000 a new church organ was inaugurated. There were no further changes to the church complex until 2010.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Peter Shaver: National Register of Historic Places nomination, Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack ( English ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . February 5, 2001. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
- ↑ About us ( English ) Reformed Dutch Church of Claverack. 2008. Archived from the original on March 2, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
Coordinates: 42 ° 13 ′ 42 ″ N , 73 ° 44 ′ 0 ″ W.