United Methodist Church of the Highlands

United Methodist Church of the Highlands
A triangular stone building with a peaked-roofed tower attached to its front slightly to the left, illuminated by the sun from that direction. Its wooden doors have a Christmas wreath on them.
East (front) elevation and south profile, 2008
Religion
AffiliationUnited Methodist Church, formerly the Presbyterian Church USA
LeadershipPastor Karina Feliz
Location
LocationHighland Falls, NY, USA
Geographic coordinates41°22′17″N 73°57′54″W / 41.37139°N 73.96500°W / 41.37139; -73.96500
Architecture
Architect(s)Frederick Clarke Withers
StyleGothic Revival
Completed1868
Specifications
Direction of façadeeast
Spire(s)1
MaterialsStone
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Added to NRHPNovember 23, 1982
NRHP Reference no.82001216
Website
United Methodist Church of the Highlands

The United Methodist Church of the Highlands, originally First Presbyterian Church of Highland Falls, is a historic church located on Main Street in Highland Falls, New York, designed by notable Gothic Revival architect Frederick Clarke Withers.

It was the first church founded in the village. In 1982 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with other properties in the Hudson Highlands.[1]

Building

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The church is located on the west side of Main Street in downtown Highland Falls, north of Tobin Lane. Across Main and the West Point Highway is the large complex around the United States Military Academy's Thayer Hotel and the parking lot for the West Point Museum. Another church, Sacred Heart, is to the north, with its school to the west. A residential area is to the south.[2]

The building itself is a three-bay blue granite structure with a steep gabled nave. On the east (front) facade is a narthex with an engaged bell tower on the southern end. It is topped with a steeply pitched slate roof, with a corbeled cornice and lancet windows below. The main entrance, a pair of heavy wooden doors in the center of the narthex, is framed by recessed columns with foliated capitals. On a projecting pediment above is a carved datestone.[2]

There is a single casement window in the narthex to the north of the door. Above the narthex, in the nave's gable field, is a large round window. The side elevations of the building have six pairs of lancet windows, separated by wall buttresses.[2]

History

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The church was founded by five residents who met at first in a building on Mill Street in 1830. It was the first church established in Highland Falls. By 1867 the parish was large enough to erect its own church.[2]

The half-acre (2,000 m²) site was acquired from the estate of W.B. Cozzens. A design was commissioned from the firm of Wycliff and Baldwin, but it was never used. Instead money from the lecture tours of Edward Payson Roe, the pastor at the time who later became a popular novelist, and donations from friends helped the church commission and build the Withers design. John Bigelow, former ambassador to France and a summer resident of the village, attended the dedication ceremony.[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Cultural Resource Information System (CRIS)" (Searchable database). New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. Retrieved 2016-08-01. Note: This includes Elise M. Barry (March 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: First Presbyterian Church of Highland Falls" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-08-01.
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