First Presbyterian Church of Margaretville
Encyclopedia
The First Presbyterian Church of Margaretville, now Margaretville New Kingston Presbyterian Church, is located on Orchard Street in Margaretville
, New York, United States. It is an ornate wooden church built late in the 19th century.
It was built shortly after the congregation was established using the "open plan" interior favored by revivalists
of the area as more conducive to worship. A rear wing was built on the church in the 1960s. Besides that modification, it has remained mostly intact since then. In 2004 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
.
peaks west of the village. The church's lot is elevated slightly above street level, giving it a good view of Pakatakan Mountain, the west end of Dry Brook Ridge, and other scenery east of the village. The neighborhood is othewise residential. A slate walk and stairs lead up to the church from Orchard Street. There is a parking lot on the west side of the church next to Mountain Street.
The building itself is a frame
structure on a rusticated
stone foundation
with full basement. Its clapboard
-sided
walls rise to a steeply pitched
gable
d metal roof with overhanging eaves. The gable fields have fish-scale shingle siding; the roof's cornice
is decorated
with scroll-sawn
vergeboards in a trefoil
pattern and supporting brackets
.
On the southeast corner is an engaged square two-stage bell tower
. It, too, is sided in clapboard with wide wooden cornerboards above paneled pilaster
s and a wide wooden frieze
. On its first stage, two double paneled doors, the main entrance, are topped with a lancet arched transom
with tracery
on the south and a single lancet window on the east. A circular window with tracery tops both. The upper stage has the belfry, with lancet arched balustrades and paneled corner piers topped with pinnacles above the eaves. The wood-shingled pyramidal roof is topped with a crocket
.
The south (front) facade has a single tripartite lancet arch stained glass
window. A cross-gable gives both side elevations projecting bays
with narrow lancet arched windows. Each has a religious motif, such as a Bible
, cross, or dove in stained glass at the top. Near the front on the west side is a second double-doored entrance reached by a set of stone steps and, at ground level, a single door providing access to the basement at the corner. The rear addition, a one-story frame block with gabled roof constructed perpendicular to the main block, obscures most of the original north elevation but a circular window depicting Jesus
remains.
Both entrances lead into small vestibule
s, where another set of double wooden paneled doors opens into the auditorium
, a single open space with curved pew
s divided into three sets of rows by side aisles, and straight pews at the rear. The walls are sided in beadboard to the chair rail and plaster above. The ceiling follows the gable from the plate but is flat.
A platform at the west end is raised 20 inches (50 cm) off the floor and faced in beadboard as well. A wooden rail with velvet curtain sets off the edges. It has a lectern
in the center and space for a choir at the east. Its furniture, apparently original, includes carved Eastlake chairs and a communion table, in addition to a piano and organ. To the west is the community room, a large open space with kitchen and bathrooms partitioned off at the end.
moving to the village upon retirement. Members met at first in the local Baptist
church; a committee was formed to find a church site the following year, 1892. The current parcel, on what was then known as Doolittle Avenue, was selected.
Two years later, in 1894, the church was completed and opened. Architecturally, it is similar to other contemporary Presbyterian churches in Delaware County
, such as New Kingston and West Kortright
, both also listed on the National Register. All are of frame construction, with corner bell towers and an eclectic assortment of features from various Victorian
architectural style
s. The architect of the Margaretville church is not known, but the design is very similar to one in a popular pattern book of Benjamin Price designs sponsored by the American Methodist Church, lacking only a Sunday school
from the original. The tower is an exact replica of the one at St. Mark's Baptist Church in Highland Falls
, on the Hudson River
.
The interior followed the auditorium plan advocated by contemporary
Revivalists
as ideal for worship. They emphasized the importance of individual conversion in the Christian experience and wanted a space, similar to those found at camp meeting
s of the era, in which every member of the congregation could make individual face contact with the preacher. The curved pews, radiating aisles and corner entrances maximized interior space, eachoing the tents of the camp meeting. The platform brought the preacher down from his high pulpit
to closer contact with the worshippers, and gave him space to move around and keep the audience focused. Music, texture and color were also used for the same purpose, and these are seen in the beaded walls and stained glass windows.
Since its construction, there have been few changes to the church. The most significant has been the addition of the rear wing in 1964 for Sunday school
. It required an entrance cut in the rear of the building, and about ten feet (3 m) was cut off the platform to make room. Lights and carpeting have also been installed.
Margaretville, New York
Margaretville is a village in Delaware County, New York, United States. The population was 643 at the 2000 census.The Village of Margaretville is in the Town of Middletown. The village is on the border of the Catskill Park...
, New York, United States. It is an ornate wooden church built late in the 19th century.
It was built shortly after the congregation was established using the "open plan" interior favored by revivalists
Revival meeting
A revival meeting is a series of Christian religious services held in order to inspire active members of a church body, to raise funds and to gain new converts...
of the area as more conducive to worship. A rear wing was built on the church in the 1960s. Besides that modification, it has remained mostly intact since then. In 2004 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
Building
The church is situated on the northern corner of Orchard and Mountain streets. The land here begins to slope toward the CatskillCatskill Mountains
The Catskill Mountains, an area in New York State northwest of New York City and southwest of Albany, are a mature dissected plateau, an uplifted region that was subsequently eroded into sharp relief. They are an eastward continuation, and the highest representation, of the Allegheny Plateau...
peaks west of the village. The church's lot is elevated slightly above street level, giving it a good view of Pakatakan Mountain, the west end of Dry Brook Ridge, and other scenery east of the village. The neighborhood is othewise residential. A slate walk and stairs lead up to the church from Orchard Street. There is a parking lot on the west side of the church next to Mountain Street.
The building itself is a frame
Framing (construction)
Framing, in construction known as light-frame construction, is a building technique based around structural members, usually called studs, which provide a stable frame to which interior and exterior wall coverings are attached, and covered by a roof comprising horizontal ceiling joists and sloping...
structure on a rusticated
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
stone foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
with full basement. Its clapboard
Clapboard (architecture)
Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
-sided
Siding
Siding is the outer covering or cladding of a house meant to shed water and protect from the effects of weather. On a building that uses siding, it may act as a key element in the aesthetic beauty of the structure and directly influence its property value....
walls rise to a steeply pitched
Roof pitch
In building construction, roof pitch is a numerical measure of the steepness of a roof, and a pitched roof is a roof that is steep.The roof's pitch is the measured vertical rise divided by the measured horizontal span, the same thing as what is called "slope" in geometry. Roof pitch is typically...
gable
Gable
A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of a sloping roof. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system being used and aesthetic concerns. Thus the type of roof enclosing the volume dictates the shape of the gable...
d metal roof with overhanging eaves. The gable fields have fish-scale shingle siding; the roof's cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
is decorated
Ornament (architecture)
In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
with scroll-sawn
Scroll saw
A scroll saw is a small electric or pedal-operated saw that is useful for cutting intricate curves in cases where a jigsaw or coping saw is not appropriate. It is capable of creating curves with edges...
vergeboards in a trefoil
Trefoil
Trefoil is a graphic form composed of the outline of three overlapping rings used in architecture and Christian symbolism...
pattern and supporting brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
.
On the southeast corner is an engaged square two-stage bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
. It, too, is sided in clapboard with wide wooden cornerboards above paneled pilaster
Pilaster
A pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s and a wide wooden frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
. On its first stage, two double paneled doors, the main entrance, are topped with a lancet arched transom
Transom (architectural)
In architecture, a transom is the term given to a transverse beam or bar in a frame, or to the crosspiece separating a door or the like from a window or fanlight above it. Transom is also the customary U.S. word used for a transom light, the window over this crosspiece...
with tracery
Tracery
In architecture, Tracery is the stonework elements that support the glass in a Gothic window. The term probably derives from the 'tracing floors' on which the complex patterns of late Gothic windows were laid out.-Plate tracery:...
on the south and a single lancet window on the east. A circular window with tracery tops both. The upper stage has the belfry, with lancet arched balustrades and paneled corner piers topped with pinnacles above the eaves. The wood-shingled pyramidal roof is topped with a crocket
Crocket
A crocket is a hook-shaped decorative element common in Gothic architecture. It is in the form of a stylised carving of curled leaves, buds or flowers which is used at regular intervals to decorate the sloping edges of spires, finials, pinnacles, and wimpergs....
.
The south (front) facade has a single tripartite lancet arch stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
window. A cross-gable gives both side elevations projecting bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
with narrow lancet arched windows. Each has a religious motif, such as a Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, cross, or dove in stained glass at the top. Near the front on the west side is a second double-doored entrance reached by a set of stone steps and, at ground level, a single door providing access to the basement at the corner. The rear addition, a one-story frame block with gabled roof constructed perpendicular to the main block, obscures most of the original north elevation but a circular window depicting Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
remains.
Both entrances lead into small vestibule
Vestibule (architecture)
A vestibule is a lobby, entrance hall, or passage between the entrance and the interior of a building.The same term can apply to structures in modern or ancient roman architecture. In modern architecture vestibule typically refers to a small room or hall between an entrance and the interior of...
s, where another set of double wooden paneled doors opens into the auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
, a single open space with curved pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s divided into three sets of rows by side aisles, and straight pews at the rear. The walls are sided in beadboard to the chair rail and plaster above. The ceiling follows the gable from the plate but is flat.
A platform at the west end is raised 20 inches (50 cm) off the floor and faced in beadboard as well. A wooden rail with velvet curtain sets off the edges. It has a lectern
Lectern
A lectern is a reading desk with a slanted top, usually placed on a stand or affixed to some other form of support, on which documents or books are placed as support for reading aloud, as in a scripture reading, lecture, or sermon...
in the center and space for a choir at the east. Its furniture, apparently original, includes carved Eastlake chairs and a communion table, in addition to a piano and organ. To the west is the community room, a large open space with kitchen and bathrooms partitioned off at the end.
History
The congregation was organized in 1891 in response to an expressed need in Margaretville for a Presbyterian church, especially with farmers from nearby New Kingston who had worshipped at the church thereNew Kingston Presbyterian Church
New Kingston Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church on CR 6 in New Kingston, Delaware County, New York. It is a one story, rectangular wood frame building on a stone foundation built in 1900. It features a steep gable roof with slate shingles and a broad raking cornice...
moving to the village upon retirement. Members met at first in the local Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church; a committee was formed to find a church site the following year, 1892. The current parcel, on what was then known as Doolittle Avenue, was selected.
Two years later, in 1894, the church was completed and opened. Architecturally, it is similar to other contemporary Presbyterian churches in Delaware County
Delaware County, New York
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. As of 2010 the population was 47,980. The county seat is Delhi. It is named after the Delaware River, which was named in honor of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, appointed governor of Virginia in 1609.-History:When counties...
, such as New Kingston and West Kortright
West Kortright Presbyterian Church
West Kortright Presbyterian Church is a historic Presbyterian church located at 49 W. Kortright Church Road in West Kortright, Delaware County, New York. It is a wood frame building on a stone foundation surmounted by a broad gable roof. It was originally constructed in 1850 and substantially...
, both also listed on the National Register. All are of frame construction, with corner bell towers and an eclectic assortment of features from various Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
s. The architect of the Margaretville church is not known, but the design is very similar to one in a popular pattern book of Benjamin Price designs sponsored by the American Methodist Church, lacking only a Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
from the original. The tower is an exact replica of the one at St. Mark's Baptist Church in Highland Falls
Highland Falls, New York
Highland Falls, formerly named Buttermilk Falls, is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,678 at the 2000 census. The village was founded in 1906...
, on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
.
The interior followed the auditorium plan advocated by contemporary
Third Great Awakening
The Third Great Awakening was a period of religious activism in American history from the late 1850s to the early 1900s. It affected pietistic Protestant denominations and had a strong sense of social activism. It gathered strength from the postmillennial theology that the Second Coming of Christ...
Revivalists
Christian revival
Christian revival is a term that generally refers to a specific period of increased spiritual interest or renewal in the life of a church congregation or many churches, either regionally or globally...
as ideal for worship. They emphasized the importance of individual conversion in the Christian experience and wanted a space, similar to those found at camp meeting
Camp meeting
The camp meeting is a form of Protestant Christian religious service originating in Britain and once common in some parts of the United States, wherein people would travel from a large area to a particular site to camp out, listen to itinerant preachers, and pray...
s of the era, in which every member of the congregation could make individual face contact with the preacher. The curved pews, radiating aisles and corner entrances maximized interior space, eachoing the tents of the camp meeting. The platform brought the preacher down from his high pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
to closer contact with the worshippers, and gave him space to move around and keep the audience focused. Music, texture and color were also used for the same purpose, and these are seen in the beaded walls and stained glass windows.
Since its construction, there have been few changes to the church. The most significant has been the addition of the rear wing in 1964 for Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
. It required an entrance cut in the rear of the building, and about ten feet (3 m) was cut off the platform to make room. Lights and carpeting have also been installed.