Reformed Church of Beacon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Reformed Church of Beacon |
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East elevation, 2021
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| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Reformed Church in America |
| Location | |
| Location | Beacon, NY, United States |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Frederick Clarke Withers |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Architectural style | High Victorian Gothic |
| General contractor | J.F. Gerow, Samuel Bogardus |
| Completed | 1860 |
| Specifications | |
| Direction of façade | East |
| Materials | Brick |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Added to NRHP | 1988 |
| NRHP Reference no. | 88001438 |
| Website | |
| Reformed Church of Beacon | |
The Reformed Church of Beacon is a very old and special church building in Beacon, New York. It used to be called the Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill Landing. The people who used to worship here say it's the oldest church in Beacon. They don't use this building anymore.
It's located on Route 9D, a short distance south of downtown Beacon. From its spot on a hill, it has a great view of the Hudson River. A famous architect named Frederick Clarke Withers designed it. It was built in 1860 in a style called High Victorian Gothic. This was one of the first times this style was used in the United States.
Because it's so important, the church and its graveyard were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988. It's one of three buildings in Beacon designed by Withers that are on this list. It's also a rare example of his church designs in the High Victorian Gothic style.
Contents
Exploring the Church Property
The church and its cemetery are on a 2.2-acre (about 8,900 square meter) piece of land. This land is between Ferry Street (Route 9D) and Beekman Street. The area where the church stands is flat and open. The cemetery is on a wooded slope behind the church. There is also a parking lot and the church's old parsonage (a house for the minister) nearby.
The Church Building
The church is two and a half stories tall. It is made from red brick laid in a pattern called English bond. The main entrance faces east. It has two large Gothic-style wooden doors with a small Gothic window between them. Most of the side walls have large Gothic windows with strong buttresses (supports) between them. The back of the church has many windows. A small section sticks out to the south. The church's tall spire (a pointed tower) rises near this section. The spire was added later.
Inside, a red carpet covers the wooden floor in the main worship area, called the sanctuary. There are 98 oak pews (church benches) for people to sit on. The walls are made of plaster, with narrow wooden panels called wainscoting along the bottom. The walls go up to a vaulted wooden ceiling with large wooden trusses (support beams).
At the back, behind the altar (the table used for services), are the pipes of the church's pipe organ. This organ is special because it uses a "manual-tracker" system. It is the only one of its kind in the Hudson Valley.
A small gallery is located near the main entrance. This area is now used as the choir room. At the west end of the church, there is a larger room. This room was used for Sunday school and as a lecture hall. It has similar decorations to the sanctuary, but the wood is painted white and the plaster is blue. From the south side, a small kitchen and hallway lead to stairs. These stairs go down to the basement and up to the bell tower.
The Cemetery and Parsonage
The cemetery is located on the land behind the church, going downhill towards Beekman Street. The graves in the cemetery date from 1813 to the early 1900s. They show different styles of funerary art (grave markers) from those times. The cemetery is now overgrown and some parts are in disrepair.
Some notable people were buried here. These include Abraham H. Schenck and James Mackin. William Few, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, was also buried here for a time. His body was later moved to Saint Paul's Church in Augusta, Georgia.
North of the church is the parsonage. This is a two-story wooden building with a large addition. It was likely built in the mid-1800s. The parsonage has been changed a lot over the years. Because of these changes, it is not considered a "contributing resource" to the National Register of Historic Places listing, unlike the church and cemetery.
Architectural Style and Design
Frederick Clarke Withers was a very religious person. When he designed churches for his own faith, the Episcopal Church, he usually followed a traditional English country church style. You can see this in his St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Beacon, which he built ten years later.
However, when Withers designed buildings for other religious groups, he was more flexible. His design for the Reformed Church is a rare example of him using the High Victorian Gothic style for a church. This style was more common in his non-religious buildings, like the Eustatia house in Beacon.
The church uses many colors in its design. This is called polychromy. You can see it in the different colored layers of bricks on the outside walls. The slate tiles on its wide, cross-gabled roof also show this style. Withers wanted to use black bricks to balance the colors, but they weren't made locally yet.
The Reformed Church of Beacon is one of the first examples of the High Victorian Gothic style in America. Its design was influenced by famous architects and writers of the time. These included William Butterfield's All Saints Church in London and the writings of John Ruskin, like The Seven Lamps of Architecture. Other important books were Brick and Marble by George Edmund Street and Remarks by George Gilbert Scott. These books supported using brick and features from Northern Italian Gothic architecture, especially for churches. Withers always kept up with new English magazines and architectural books.
History of the Congregation
The church group started in 1813 in a small town by the river called Fishkill Landing. A small white wooden church was built on the same spot where the current church stands. The cemetery was also started at this time, and the first person was buried there in 1813.
By the late 1850s, the church group had grown a lot. They needed a new, bigger building. So, they hired Frederick Clarke Withers to design it. Local carpenter Samuel Bogardus did the wooden framing. J.F. Gerow handled the masonry and bricklaying.
The new church opened just before the American Civil War began. In 1861, a famous speaker named Henry Ward Beecher visited the church. He was known for supporting the end of slavery. He told the people that freedom should be for everyone.
After the Civil War, in the 1870s, both the town and the church continued to grow. Some changes and additions were needed for the building. Withers' original back section was made smaller to make room for a new steeple. In 1873, the entire church was repaired and redecorated. The original stone belfry (bell tower) became unstable and was taken down in 1887. The church's organ, built by George Ryder, was installed in 1895.
In 1907, one person from the church donated the land and house north of the church. This became the new parsonage. The old parsonage was sold and moved to Beacon Street in 1911.
