St. Paul's Episcopal Church (Troy)
The St. Paul's Episcopal Church is a church building in Troy , New York . It stands at the intersection of Third Street ( US 4, facing north ) and State Street and is the seat of one of the oldest parishes in the city. On September 7, 1979, the church and two outbuildings were added to the National Register of Historic Places . It is a contributing property of the later Central Troy Historic District , which was added to that register in 1986.
The building was built in the mid-1820s and is a direct copy of the Trinity Church built by Ithiel Town in New Haven , Connecticut, and is one of the earliest church buildings in America to use neo-Gothic elements . Renovations in the late 1890s added stained glass windows and other work by Louis Comfort Tiffany inside.
Church complex
In addition to the church, there are two other buildings on the lot, to the east is the Guild House and the Martha Memorial House, which is attached to the northeast corner, serves as the administration building for the parish.
The church itself is a rectangular building, five bays in length and three in width. The facade consists of limestone blocks that are laid in a random stone pattern and are closed off by hewn pilasters at the corners . On the south side there are five lancet windows , on the north side there are only four of them. Both the western and eastern façades have three similar windows each. The eaves are emphasized by an ornate wooden cornice . A thirty meter high tower rises above the main entrance on the west facade. Inside the crenellated tower is a bell weighing 1,000 kilograms .
The front entrance is reflected in the Wayside Chapel. The pews is divided by three courses. Chandeliers illuminate each section and a stained glass lamp hangs over the altar . The high ceiling is supported by wooden beams ; they and the panels of the upper aisles are carved and adorned with gold-colored leaves made of aluminum .
The Guild House, originally the seat of the parish, is a three-story limestone building on the west side, the design of which is intended to correspond with the church. The wooden interiors and the windows are original, but other renovations have been made. The Martha Memorial House is similar in shape and size but is made of brick . This was modernized more extensively, but a chapel on the second floor remained as intact as the windows, wooden interiors and the stairwell.
aesthetics
The church shows the influence of English church buildings of the 16th century and, through the rough surface and the irregular masonry, a touch of the contemporary picturesque style.
The structure mimics Towns Trinity Church in every way, with the exception of the color of the facade by using a different stone, since the original is made of granite . The tower of the building in New Haven was later replaced, so that the church in Troy today is more like the original than the original.
history
The parish was founded in 1795, not long after Troy was registered as a Village . With the financial support of Trinity Church in New York City and thanks to the encouragement of first rector Reverend David Butler, the congregation built its first church in 1804 at the intersection of Third and Congress Streets. In 1818 that building was the only building in Troy with a pipe organ . 1826 gave the church, whose membership by the now as City was greatly increased newly founded city, the new building in order.
The contract was awarded that the new church would be a copy of Ithiel Town's Trinity Church in New Haven, Connecticut, which was completed in 1817. The only significant difference was in appearance because the facade of Trinity Church New Haven consisted of brown granite, while used in St. Paul's blue-gray limestone, which in Amsterdam near Troy broken was. The foundation stone was laid in 1826, and the new church building was ready for use two years later.
In the years after the Civil War , the church began renovations, initially in 1869 with the current Guild House. The battlements and pinacles on the cornices were removed and the bell tower changed when a new bell was installed in the 1870s. The Martha House was built in 1881. It was originally a residence for the nuns of the church. Six years later this outbuilding was given a second floor. When the Martha House was built, one of the windows on the north side of the church was lost. Otherwise the appearance of the church corresponds to the original condition.
Inside the building one were in the 1880s pulpit from brass added. These measures resulted in major renovations after enough money was raised to address some of the structural problems in the original construction. Hidden steel pillars were drawn in and the ceiling was redesigned so that the girders are now visible. On a trip through Europe, the then rector was very impressed by the large Gothic church buildings and so Louis Comfort Tiffany was commissioned to decorate the interior of the building after the renovation work. As a result, local artisans added much of the glass and wood work. The lead glass windows were used a little later.
In the 20th century, some more renovations followed. A third floor was added to the Guild House in 1914. The church itself received its current organ in 1921, the Wayside Chapel during the 1940s, and the glass doors were added in the 1960s.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Shirley Dunn: National Register of Historic Places nomination, St. Paul's Episcopal Church ( English ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation . June 19, 1979. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
- ↑ a b c d St. Paul's Church in Troy, NY - History ( English ) St. Paul's Episcopal Church. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
Web links
Coordinates: 42 ° 43 ′ 49 " N , 73 ° 41 ′ 24" W.