Ossining United Methodist Church

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According to the Village of Ossining Significant Sites and Structures Guide, page 204:

Property Name: United Methodist Church
Street Address: 1 Emwilton Place
Section, Block, and Lot: Section 89.19, Block 3, Lot 46
Historic District: Downtown Ossining Historic District
Architect/Builder: Ebenezer L. Roberts, Architect
Date of Construction: 1885
Architectural Style: High Victorian Gothic (1860s-1890s)

High Victorian Gothic architecture, which evolved from the older Gothic Revival style, differs from that style in its use of contrasting polychromatic bands on the exterior wall surfaces and more elaborate decorative elements. This style was usually reserved for public buildings such as schools or churches. As it is related to Gothic Revival architecture, structures in this style also contain such elements as steeply pitched rooflines, elaborate ornamentation, and a predominantly vertical orientation.

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The United Methodist Church is two- and one-half stories in height, three bays wide, and eight bays deep, with a four-story tower located on the southwestern corner of the building. The tower contains a set of three small gables, a balcony, and rectangular window openings with pointed arch brick surrounds on each of its four facings. The main entryway, which is located on the first floor of the tower, contains a transom window and decorative ornament above the door along with molded stone lintels, while the secondary entryway on the main portion of the façade to the east has a gabled pediment with decorative stonework. The structure is capped with a cross-gable roof with five gables. Each gable features decorative stonework at the apex, a pair of pedimented casement windows, and a bracketed cornice. There are also a total of forty stained glass windows throughout the building’s exterior, each with a decorative wood frame. A two-story addition, six bays in depth, was constructed on the rear of the building at an unknown date. The church is constructed with white marble and also features stone courses along the main façade just below the basement level and stone quoins.

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Significance: Architectural and Cultural

The United Methodist is National Register-listed as a contributing structure within the Village’s National Register of Historic Places-listed Downtown Ossining Historic District. It is architecturally significant as an example of High Victorian Gothic architecture within Ossining. Others are the First Presbyterian Church and the First Baptist Church.

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It is also culturally significant as the home of Ossining’s Methodist Congregation.

Narrative:

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The United Methodist Church, located at 1 Emwilton Place and constructed from 1877 to 1885, was built to house the Sing Sing Methodist Congregation and was originally known as the Sing Sing Union Chapel. Before the church was built, the congregation utilized a space on Spring Street that had become too small as the congregation expanded in size, so the decision was made to build a new church on a site located on the corner of Emwilton Place and South Highland Avenue. A chief sponsor of the new church’s construction was Henry J. Baker, who built Highland Cottage Baker helped raise $30,000 toward the church but died in 1878, a year after the start of construction. His body was initially buried underneath the main vestibule at the base of the tower in 1878 but was removed in 1893 at the request of his family. Following Baker’s passing, the lack of funds and higher than expected construction costs delayed completion of the building, which sat unfinished for eight years until finally completed in 1885. The church was built from white marble obtained from the Snowflake quarry in Thornwood, and the marble was carted to the site by a team of oxen. One of the stained-glass windows was created and signed by Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933), famed glassmaker and owner of Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company of New York City.

The church is presently closed.

An article dated June 26, 2023, by Robert Brum, in River Journal: “Historic Ossining Church Awaits Second Act” states that a deconsecrating ceremony took place in August of 2019. The Tiffany window (titled Te Deum: Christ Enthroned), apparently was sold by the United Methodist Church’s New York Conference. It is now on display at the Gelman Stained Glass Museum in San Juan, Texas. The window is composed of 41 panels and was proclaimed as one of the most “famous windows of this country” when it was installed in 1899 in memory of longtime Ossining church member Townsend Young, according to the museum’s website.

Taken with a Sony RX100 MVII

Stone Steps

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As I walked down Snowden Avenue in Ossining, NY I spotted this stone staircase (the pictures show two views of the same staircase). I have no idea where it goes. I imagine there’s some kind of dwelling at the top. I just liked the look of it. I seemed to me like the kind of thing you would find in an old, ruined, English castle.

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Taken Sony RX100 MVII

A Brightly Colored House

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The colors of this house struck me immediately: the “pinkish” color of the siding and purple of the faux shutters and the top of the lamp. And then, if you look carefully, you see the small, yellow seahorses on the shutters. Not a combination that you see very much around here, and of course the colors of the flowers in the foreground mirror those of the house. And then there’s the garden. At first glance it seems to be completely overgrown. And it is – but not with weeds. It’s full of flowers. I’ll have to go back in Spring to see how it looks. I like this wild kind of garden, much more than type of garden that’s organization with lots of separate flower beds. Most of the flowers had lost their blooms, but a few were still flowering.

Taken Sony RX100 MVII

A Portrait

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The two men above were sitting quite close to some the trucks emblazoned with the words “Atlantic Recovery Services” (the same trucks as mentioned in the previous post). My path towards Ossining station went right past them. I was a little concerned that they might not like me taking pictures of their trucks. How did I know that they were their trucks? Other than the fact that they were sitting near to the trucks, they also had the words Atlantic Recovery Services on their hats and their shirts. As I went by, I could tell they were going to speak to me. Imagine my surprise when they expressed concern that they might be doing something wrong. Why else would I be taking pictures? I reassured them that I walk around taking pictures of anything that interests me and that as far as I knew they were doing nothing wrong.

We had a little chat and asked them what they were waiting for. It seems that some construction was taking place in the vicinity, and in the course of this a large hole was dug. The hole had filled with water, and it was their job to pump it all out. They were waiting for someone to come and let them into the building site so they could do their job.

I was now feeling quite comfortable with them and asked if I could take a picture of them. They agreed and afterwards the guy on the left asked if I would email him a copy. Of course I agreed. He seemed to like it.

Taken with a Nikon D40 and Nikon Nikkor 70-300mm f4.5-5.6