Trinity Episcopal Church

About this property

The former Trinity Episcopal Church is located on NY 23B in Claverack, New York, United States. It is a Shingle Style church building from the early 20th century. It replaced the church's second building, destroyed by fire, which had itself been a replacement for another fire-destroyed building. In 1975 the church moved out and sold it. Changes were made to convert it into a residence but it retains its historic integrity. In 1997 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The former church is on the north side of Route 23B, set back somewhat from the road. It is located near the west side of a 1.3-acre (5,300 m2) lot with tall, mature trees, particularly along the driveway in the center of the lot. To the east along the highway are institutional public buildings such as a school, library and a memorial chapel. To the west are other houses, many from the 18th and centuries. There is one other building, a garage not considered a contributing resource to the National Register listing. The building itself is a frame structure on a stone foundation capped by a steeply pitched gable roof. At the south (front) end, the roof extends to an overhanging hood meant to shelter the bell originally there, a feature called a wolf dak. It is sided in board-and-batten on its lower sections and wood shingles above. A datestone at the corner gives 1901 as the date of construction. On the southern facade are a group of five stepped stained glass windows. At the south end of the east facade is a projecting vestibule for the main entrance with a gabled roof. One stained glass window lights it from the south. The flat-arched windows along the rest of the profile also retain their stained glass. There are three similar windows in the north elevation. Their stained glass has been replaced with clear glass. The west side has a small transept, with a stained glass oculus in its gable field above another group of three windows. There is a secondary entrance on the west elevation of the wing. At the south end of the facade is a shed-roofed addition. Inside, the nave, now the house's main block, is still open to the roof. King post trusses are still visible at either corner of the transept, in natural wood finish contrasting with the dark-stained ceiling. Other wood supports are visible and serve both decorative and structural functions. Open lofts in the front and rear expand the available living space. There was no Episcopal presence in Claverack, whose population descended predominantly from Dutch settlers who worshipped primarily at the Reformed Dutch Church, until 1853. That year The Rev. Fred T. Tiffany came to the hamlet as a missionary. He gained enough followers to formally establish a parish three years later, in 1856, which he served as rector.

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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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