St. Mark's Episcopal Church (Hoosick Falls, New York) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids St. Mark's Episcopal Church |
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West elevation and tower, 2008
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| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Episcopal Church in the United States of America |
| Leadership | Interim |
| Year consecrated | 1860 |
| Location | |
| Location | Hoosick Falls, NY |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Henry Dudley |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| Groundbreaking | 1858 |
| Completed | 1860 |
| Specifications | |
| Direction of façade | west |
| Capacity | 250 |
| Materials | brick, stone, stucco, slate |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
| Added to NRHP | 2000 |
| NRHP Reference no. | 00000836 |
St. Mark's Episcopal Church is a historic church located on Main Street in Hoosick Falls, New York. It is a beautiful brick building that was built in the mid-1800s. The church community itself started way back in the 1830s.
A famous architect named Henry Dudley designed the church. He followed special ideas for how Episcopal churches should look, inspired by old English country churches. He usually used stone, but for St. Mark's, he used brick. A local business leader, Walter A. Wood, who was a member of the church, likely asked Dudley to design it.
Over the years, the church building had some parts added and updated. A big addition was the parish hall in the early 1900s. Because of its special history and design, St. Mark's Episcopal Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in the year 2000.
Contents
What the Church Looks Like
The church stands on a small piece of land on the west side of Main Street. It's near a village park and not far from the post office. The church has a small lawn and trees around it. A driveway leads to a parking lot behind the building.
The church building has three main parts. There's the main worship area called the nave, a tall bell tower that stands a little separate, and a parish house attached to the side. The nave and bell tower are made of brick. The parish house is made of stucco over a wood frame.
Main Building Features
The nave has a very steep roof covered with slate tiles. It has strong corner supports called buttresses. The front of the church has a small porch with a similar roof. There are two tall, narrow windows on each side of the porch. Above them, you can see a round window called a rose window. The main entrance has double wooden doors with fancy metal hinges. The doorway is shaped like a pointed arch and made of limestone.
On the sides, later additions have covered some of the original walls. You can still see two narrow windows on the south side. There are also small windows that stick out from the roof, called dormers. The north side has an addition that created a side aisle inside. This part has paired narrow windows and a slanted roof. At the back, there's a section called a transept with more narrow windows and a steep roof. The one-and-a-half-story parish hall sticks out from the south side. It also has a steep roof and decorative moldings above its windows.
The Bell Tower
A narrow, one-story section connects the main church to the bell tower. The tower has four levels, each marked by sandstone trim. Strong corner supports go up two stories. The first level has an entrance similar to the front of the church. The second level has another narrow window on the east and west sides. The third level has a clock. The top level has pointed arch openings with louvers, which are like angled slats. Inside these openings are Meneely chimes, which are like bells. The tower's roof is shaped like a pyramid and has small triangular vents. A cross sits at the very top.
Inside the Church
Inside the main worship area, the ceiling has a special design called a hammerbeam roof. It has large wooden beams that are dark-stained. The walls are made of plaster. The church still has its original wooden pews, which are the long benches where people sit. There's also a lectern with a brass eagle, which is a stand for reading. Beautiful stained glass windows from different times add color to the space. In the front part of the church, called the chancel, there is a marble altar that came from another church. There's also a fancy oak screen behind the altar called a reredos.
History of St. Mark's
Early Beginnings
The St. Mark's church community started in 1833. At first, they held their services in the local schoolhouse. Later, they met in a building where the village's Baptist Church is now. About 20 years after they started, the community had grown big enough to build their own church.
Walter A. Wood's Role
Walter A. Wood played a very important part in building the church. He later became a major industrialist in Hoosick Falls, known for making mechanical mowers and reapers for farming. Wood often visited Troy, the county seat, and knew about Henry Dudley's other work there. Dudley had designed St. John's Episcopal Church and some buildings at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy. Dudley also designed Walter A. Wood's own house, which was located behind the church but is no longer there.
Architectural Ideas
Henry Dudley, who was an English immigrant, was part of a group called the New York Ecclesiological Society. This group believed that Episcopal churches should be designed like old English country churches. They thought this style fit better with small towns and rural areas than the Greek Revival style that was popular in America at the time. They also wanted churches to be simple, believing that a church didn't need lots of fancy decorations to be meaningful. So, churches designed by this group often had steep roofs, clear layouts, and distinct areas for different church activities.
One interesting thing about St. Mark's is that Dudley used brick instead of stone, which was unusual for his designs. No one knows exactly why, but it might have been because brick was easier to get in Hoosick Falls back then, making it cheaper to build with.
Construction and Changes Over Time
Construction on the main part of the church began in 1858. It was finished and officially dedicated two years later, in 1860. Dudley also designed later additions, like the north aisle and transept, in 1865. In the next 20 years, the chimes were added to the tower, and the stained glass windows near the altar were installed. The church was updated in 1880, but its main design stayed the same. Ten years later, in 1890, the chancel area was made larger.
The last major addition was the building of the parish hall, which happened in 1912–1913. This was almost 20 years after Dudley had passed away. The parish hall originally had one large room on the first floor, but in the mid-1900s, it was divided into classrooms. Since then, the church building has remained mostly the same.
See also
