According to the church’s website:

First Presbyterian Church of Philipstown is part of the rich history of the village of Cold Spring, New York.

Our congregation was established on December 10, 1828. At first, our worship services took place in the Pattern Room of the West Point Foundry ironworks, where designs were created and stored. Before long, the Union Church was built on Market Street, and for the next 40 years, our congregation held services there, sharing that church building with people of other faith communities who lived or worshipped in our village.

After the Civil War, around 1867, the West Point Foundry made some property available at 10 Academy Street in Cold Spring. Earlier, this property had been the site of the Foundry Stables. FPCP was able to acquire the property, and soon construction began on our current church building. Records indicate our Sunday School raised $12.75 to purchase the first 1,500 bricks to build our church. Bricks cost $8.50 per thousand back then!

On November 8, 1868, our congregation moved into the new church building, often referred to as “The Chapel on Academy Street.” In 1888, our congregation had an addition built next to the chapel, and that’s where our Sunday School held its classes for 80 years. Formal transfer of ownership of the property at 10 Academy Street to the Presbyterians apparently occurred in 1890, when the Executors’ Deed was recorded by Peter Parrott, Governeur Paulding, and James Paulding. They were the executors of the last will and testament of Robert P. Parrot, a former Army Captain and West Point’s inspector of ordnance. Mr. Parrott was a well-known figure in Cold Spring. He took over the West Point Foundry as superintendent after retiring from the Army in 1836. To learn more about Mr. Parrot, the Foundry, and the Foundry’s role in Civil War history, you can read this New York Times article “The Guns of the Hudson.” You can also visit the Putnam History Museum or hike the West Point Foundry Preserve trail — the museum and Foundry trailhead are just a short walk or drive from our church on Academy Street.

In 1968, a century after building our church on Academy Street, we renovated our historic chapel and the original Sunday School room. In May of that year, we dedicated a new Social Hall on the 140th anniversary of the founding of our congregation. This addition included our church office as well as a kitchen to serve our congregation, our our community, and our missions — including the Community Nursery, founded at FPCP that year to serve local children and families and still thriving today!. In 1969, we completed the final phase of this building program to create a Pastor’s Study, underwritten by Gordon and Elizabeth Todd, and the George W. Perkins Memorial Library.

Taken with a Canon 5D and Canon EF 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 USM.

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