Rosendale Library facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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All Saints' Chapel
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East profile and south elevation, 2008
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| Location | Rosendale, New York |
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| Nearest city | Kingston |
| Built | 1876 |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 86002511 |
| Added to NRHP | August 11, 1986 |
The Rosendale Library is a special building in Rosendale, New York. It used to be a church called the All Saints' Chapel. It was built in 1876 using a local material called Rosendale cement. This cement covers the outside stone walls.
The building faced some tough times. Floods in the 1950s damaged it, and a fire in the 1970s also caused harm. After the church left the building, a new group formed to save it. They turned it into a library. In 1986, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's an important historic site.
Contents
What the Building Looks Like
The library is a one-story building. It has a main room and a smaller section at the back. Its walls are made of rough cement rock, held together with Rosendale cement. You can see some fancy designs around the windows and doors.
A fire in the 1970s damaged the inside. Most of the original decorations had to be replaced. However, the wooden ceiling is still the same. Also, almost all the stained-glass windows were replaced, except for two. The building was designed to hold about 150 people.
On the outside, the roof is very steep. It has a cool triangle shape with a special design. The roof is made of slate tiles. These tiles are laid out in patterns like scallops and flowers. There's a small entrance area and another small room on the east side. On the west side, there's a six-sided tower. It has a simple Gothic design at the bottom and vents at the top. A new section was added in the 1970s. It looks like the old part but is not considered part of the original historic building.
A Look Back: The Building's Story
Rosendale grew quickly in the late 1820s. This happened after the Delaware and Hudson Canal opened nearby. In 1874, a church in Stone Ridge started a small mission in Rosendale. It was called St. John's Mission. Within two years, it had enough people to build its own church. They raised $2,000, and the building was finished in 1877. The mission's name then changed to All Saints'.
In 1893, All Saints' became a full church. It even started its own missions in nearby towns. But in 1956, a big flood from Hurricane Flossy damaged the church. It was so bad that the church had to close.
Andrew Snyder, whose family made a lot of money from the local cement, bought the building in 1957. He told a local women's club he would give it to them if they made it a library. The club formed the Rosendale Library Association. After they fixed it up, the old chapel opened as a library in 1959.
In 1975, a fire caused more damage. The inside decorations and most of the stained-glass windows were ruined. They had to be replaced. During these repairs, the new west wing was added. This wing had been planned for a long time.
In the 1980s, the building was listed as a historic place. New York State then passed a law to create a special library district. Voters in Rosendale approved this in 1987. The library district got its official approval two years later.
Work on the library building is still happening. In the 2000s, the library got a $75,000 grant from the state. This money is for repairing the slate roof. They are currently raising money to match this grant.
Why It Looks So Special
The church's design looks like old English country churches. These churches were the first to use the Gothic Revival style. The pointed windows and brick frames also match churches built by English people in the Hudson Valley. Some small details, like shells in the outside walls, show ideas from a style called Venetian Gothic. A writer named John Ruskin wrote about this style.
The most unique part of the building is its outside finish. Usually, the rough stone walls would be left uncovered. But here, they were covered with Rosendale cement. This was probably done to show off the local building material. This cement had made many people in the area rich.
See also
- Mid-Hudson Library System
