First Presbyterian Church (Poughkeepsie, New York) Explained

First Presbyterian Church
Location:25 S. Hamilton St., Poughkeepsie, New York
Coordinates:41.7011°N -73.9247°W
Built:1905
Architect:Percival M. Lloyd
Architecture:Romanesque
Added:November 26, 1982
Area:less than one acre
Refnum:82001136

First Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church located at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. It was built in 1905 and is a large, five-sided stone building with a wing. It features a three-story square tower with a pyramidal roof and arched Romanesque window surrounds.[1]

It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The related manse was added at the same time.

History

The First Presbyterian Church in Poughkeepsie, New York was organized in 1749.[2] Services were conducted first in connection with Fishkill and afterwards in connection with the Charlotte Precinct, which included Washington Hollow and Pleasant Valley.[3]

In September 1826, the North River Presbytery re-organized the church with eighteen members and installed Rev. Alonso Welton as pastor. The congregation first worshiped in an old frame building on Church Street, before moving to Cannon Street in December 1826.[4]

Reverend Thomas Woodrow, maternal grandfather of President Woodrow Wilson, preached in Poughkeepsie after emigrating from Scotland in 1835.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: National Register of Historic Places Registration:First Presbyterian Church. August 1980. 2011-01-11 . Townley McElhiney Sharp. New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
  2. https://www.history.pcusa.org/collections/research-tools/church-record-surveys/new-york/poughkeepsie-first-presbyterian-church "Poughkeepsie, First Presbyterian Church", Presbyterian Historical Society
  3. https://books.google.com/books?id=hsYpAQAAMAAJ&dq=Sacred+Heart+Chapel+(Barrytown,+New+York)&pg=PA753 Platt, Edmund. "Poughkeepsie", The History of Dutchess County, (Frank Hasbrouck, ed.) 1909, Poughkeepsie. S.A. Mathieu, p. 250
  4. https://archive.org/details/cu31924100747272/page/424/mode/2up Smith, James H., History of Dutchess County, 1882, Syracuse. D. Mason & Co., p. 424
  5. https://books.google.com/books?id=jub_AwAAQBAJ&dq=First+Presbyterian+Church+%28Poughkeepsie%2C+New+York%29&pg=PA4 Weinstein, Edwin A., Woodrow Wilson, Princeton University Press, 2014, p. 4