St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Beacon, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St. Luke's Episcopal Church |
|
|---|---|
West elevation and south profile of St. Luke's, 2008
|
|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Episcopal Church in the United States of America |
| Leadership | The Rev. Dr. Edwin H. Cromey (vicar) |
| Year consecrated | 1879 |
| Location | |
| Location | Beacon, NY, United States |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Frederick Clarke Withers |
| Architectural type | church |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| General contractor | William Harloe |
| Groundbreaking | 1868 |
| Completed | 1870 |
| Construction cost | $60,000 |
| Specifications | |
| Direction of façade | west |
| Width (nave) | 29.5 feet (9.0 m) |
| Materials | Bluestone, sandstone |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Added to NRHP | May 30, 2008 |
| NRHP Reference no. | 08000517 |
| Website | |
| St. Luke's Episcopal Church - Beacon, NY | |
St. Luke's Episcopal Church is a historic church located in Beacon, New York, United States. The church property includes four buildings and a cemetery. It covers about 12 acres (4.9 hectares) of land. The church was first started in 1832 as a religious school. It soon became known as St. Anna's Church of Fishkill Landing.
The main church building and the rectory (the house for the church leader) were built between 1868 and 1870. They were designed by a famous architect named Frederick Clarke Withers. He thought the church was one of his best designs. The buildings are in the Gothic Revival style. This style was popular for churches at the time. Even with some changes over the years, the buildings and grounds still look much like they did when they were first built. St. Luke's Episcopal Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.
Contents
Exploring the Church Buildings
Frederick Clarke Withers designed the church and the rectory. They are located at the corner of Wolcott and Rector streets. A Parish House was added later, around the end of the 1800s. It was expanded, and a garage was built in the mid-1900s. The church buildings and cemetery were planned by Henry Winthrop Sargent.
The Church Building
St. Luke's Church is a large building made of bluestone and sandstone. It is over 100 feet (30 meters) long and 60 feet (20 meters) wide. It has a unique shape that looks like a cross. There are two entrances on the south side. One is the main entrance, and the other is smaller. Another entrance is on the north side.
The roof is covered with different materials, like cement-asbestos shingles, slate, and metal. A small bell tower with a cross sits on the west end of the roof. The church has many lancet (tall, narrow) and round-arched windows. Some windows also have trefoil shapes, which look like three-leaf clovers. The beautiful stained glass windows were made by famous artists, including Louis Comfort Tiffany's company. Above the main entrance, there is a bronze lamp and a stone carving of a bull. This bull is a symbol for St. Luke.
Inside, the walls are smooth and painted. The wooden seats, called pews, are made of oak. They have pretty carvings of trefoils and quatrefoils (four-leaf clover shapes). The floors in the main walkways are made of colorful glass patterns. The ceiling has open pine beams that look like a frame. These beams are supported by stone pieces called corbels. The main area of the church, called the nave, is lit by hanging lamps. In the front part of the church, called the chancel, the bishop's chair and other furniture are also made of oak. The baptismal font (a basin for baptisms) is made of special stone.
The Rectory
The rectory was built at the same time as the church. It is a two-and-a-half-story house made of bluestone with brick details. It was rebuilt after a fire but kept its original design. The front of the house has a pointed roof and a tower. The roof is covered with asphalt shingles.
Inside, the house has a style from the later Victorian era. The walls are made of plaster, and the floors are thin oak wood. The wooden decorations, especially around the fireplaces, show designs from the Eastlake Movement.
Other Buildings and Grounds
The Parish House is a building on Rector Street. It has a large, newer addition. Inside, there is a fireplace with a decorative plate from the church's earlier location. Because of the newer additions, this building is not considered part of the original historic design.
The only other building on the property is the garage. It is a modern building made of concrete blocks.
The church grounds are mostly flat near the buildings but become gently rolling to the north. Henry Winthrop Sargent planted many special trees around the edges of the property. Most of these trees are still there today. The cemetery has gravestones from the mid-1800s to today. They show many different styles of funerary art. Some interesting examples include an old brownstone marker and a large stone monument with a tall, fluted column.
Design and Style
Both Henry Winthrop Sargent and Frederick Clarke Withers were strong followers of the Episcopal Church. They also believed in a design movement called "Ecclesiology." This movement suggested that churches should be built in the Gothic Revival style, like old English country churches. Withers had learned about this style in England. He believed that church buildings should blend in with the nature around them.
Withers' design for St. Luke's Church shows these ideas clearly. Features like the wide main area (nave), deep front section (chancel), and large south entrance were exactly what the Ecclesiology movement suggested. Withers even designed small details, like the altar cloth. He was very proud of St. Luke's Church. He wrote a lot about it in his 1873 book, Church Architecture.
The rectory also shows Withers' unique ideas for house design. It has an interesting, uneven roofline and mixes brick and stone.
Sargent's landscape design for the church grounds was one of the few times he worked with Withers on the same property. The way the trees are placed, not in straight lines, makes the grounds look very natural and beautiful.
Church History
Before the Revolutionary War, Trinity Church in Fishkill was the only Episcopal church in that part of Dutchess County. It was hard for people living in the nearby towns of Matteawan and Fishkill Landing (which is now Beacon) to get there. So, in 1832, three sisters started teaching religious lessons to children in their home. Soon, adults also joined, and by the end of the year, they had enough people to form their own church group. In 1833, they officially became St. Anna's Church. The next year, they built a small brick church on land that was given to them.
Over the years, the area around the old church became a railroad track. This made it a less desirable place for the church. So, in 1863, the church decided to build a new one somewhere else. A church member named Charles Wolcott gave six acres of land next to the church's cemetery. In 1866, he added more land that was being used as a cemetery by a local Presbyterian church.
The agreement for the land said that a new church worth at least $20,000 (which would be about $700,000 today) had to be built within three years. To get the money, the church sold its old church building and rectory.
Frederick Clarke Withers was chosen to design the new church and rectory. He had already designed other buildings in the area and was a devoted Episcopalian. Henry Winthrop Sargent, who designed the landscape, was also a church leader at the time.
Construction began in 1868. The church officially became St. Luke's Church of Matteawan, and the first service was held in 1869. The total cost to build the church was about $60,000 (which is over $1.3 million today). It took a while to pay off this debt, so the church was not officially dedicated until 1879.
In 1887, a fire badly damaged the rectory. The outside was saved, but the inside had to be rebuilt. The original layout was kept, but some newer decorations were added.
Five years later, in 1892, the church decided to replace the old schoolhouse with the Parish House. The building was supposed to be cross-shaped, but they didn't have enough money to finish it. In the 1950s, a large hall was added, finally completing the original design. During that time, the church building also got a new heating system and new roof tiles.
St. Luke's Church Today
In 2018, St. Luke's Church joined with St. Andrew's Church in Beacon. They became one church called St. Andrew and St. Luke Episcopal Church, Beacon NY. The church continues to hold services and help the community, including running a food pantry program. They still use and take care of both former church locations.
See also
