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Hyde Park Reformed Dutch Church facts for kids

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Hyde Park Reformed Dutch Church
Hyde Park Reformed Dutch Church.jpg
West elevation and south profile, 2008
Religion
Affiliation Reformed Church in America
Leadership Thom Fiet
Year consecrated 1826
Location
Location Hyde Park, New York
Architecture
Architectural style Federal
Completed 1826
Specifications
Direction of façade West
Materials Wood
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Added to NRHP September 2, 1993
NRHP Reference no. 93000861
Website
Hyde Park Dutch Reformed Church

The Hyde Park Dutch Reformed Church is a historic church located in Hyde Park, New York. It sits right on US 9, near the town center. This church is part of a group of buildings on a large piece of land, about 2 acres big.

The church's history goes back to 1789. That's when a "union church" was started for everyone in the community. Three years later, in 1792, the Dutch Reformed Church officially formed its own group. The main church building you see today was built in 1826. It was designed in the Federal style, a popular building style back then. In 1993, the church, its cemetery, the parsonage (where the minister lives), and a lecture hall were all added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means they are important historical sites.

Exploring the Church Property

The church property has five buildings and a cemetery. It's a flat, grassy area with some tall trees. The cemetery and three of the buildings are considered important historical parts of the site.

The Main Church Building

The main church is a two-story building made of wood. It has a roof shaped like a triangle (called a gable roof) covered with asphalt shingles. On the front, there's a tall, four-story steeple. A brick chimney is on one corner.

The roofline has a simple decorative edge. On the front of the church, the middle part sticks out a bit, forming the base of the steeple. All three sections on the front have red wooden double doors. These doors are surrounded by decorative columns (called pilasters) with a small roof-like top. Above each door on the second floor, there's a window with a rounded top, like a fan. Higher up, there's a round window for decoration. The steeple also has round-arched vents on its sides.

The sides of the church have beautiful stained glass windows. There are four on the north side and three on the south. They all have wooden frames. There's also a small entrance on the south side.

Inside, the church has rows of benches (pews) with a walkway down the middle. This leads to a raised platform called a pulpit. A pipe organ is next to the pulpit. A wooden staircase goes up to a balcony. The ceiling is made of embossed tin, which means it has patterns pressed into it. Many of these inside features are still original from when the church was built.

Other Buildings and the Cemetery

North of the church is the parsonage, built a few years after the church. It looks similar to the church in style and materials. It has an extra wing with a porch that wraps around. The inside of the parsonage also has many original features.

South of the church is the lecture hall. This is a one-story building made of wood. It has a gabled roof and decorative columns at its corners. The main entrance on the west side has a small entryway with a pointed roof. A modern wooden door has a decorative frame. A small wing extends from the north side.

West and south of the church is the cemetery. It's a very old cemetery with over a hundred tombstones. These gravestones are made of different materials like sandstone, granite, and marble. They date back to 1790, showing over 200 years of history. The designs on the tombstones change over time. Older ones might have simple designs like skulls, while later ones from the 1800s show common symbols like urns and willow trees.

There are two other buildings on the property: a fellowship hall and a small shed. The fellowship hall connects the church and the parsonage. These buildings look like they fit in with the older ones, but they were built more recently.

A Look at the Church's History

Hyde Park got its name before the American Revolution. But not many people lived there until just before the war. After the war, the small community, then called Stoutenburgh's Landing, needed a church. So, they built a "union church" for all different religious groups. The agreement was that the first group to get enough members to support their own building could have the union church.

In 1792, the Dutch Reformed Church in Hyde Park was officially recognized as a separate group. They then took over the union church. Luke Stoutenburgh donated a piece of land next to it, and the new church grew.

The church became known as the Reformed Church of Stoutsburg in 1803, when the village decided to call itself that. In 1817, it followed the village again and adopted the name Hyde Park. By 1825, the original union church was too small for the growing number of people. So, it was taken down, and the current building was finished the next year, in 1826. This church is simpler in design than other Federal-style buildings in the Hudson Valley. This is because it was built for religious purposes.

In 1833, the church bought the land to the north and built the parsonage there. Two years later, the church building itself was made longer by about 17 feet (5 meters) to the east. A new mahogany altar, given by another church in New York City, was added. The outside of the church has not been changed since then.

Church records suggest the lecture hall was added before 1858. It was built in the Greek Revival style, which was becoming popular after the Federal style. In 1885, a big change happened inside the church: a new Odell pipe organ was added. To fit the large instrument, one of the south windows had to be covered.

Around 1960, the fellowship hall was built, connecting the church and the parsonage. In the early 2000s, a church member decided to restore the old organ. Parts of it were sent away to be fixed and tuned, and the pipes were repainted.

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