Christmas is coming!

The Scarborough Presbyterian Church in Briarcliff Manor, NY, has a rich history that dates back to its dedication in 1895. The church was originally built as a small church in 1892 and later expanded to become the Scarborough Presbyterian Church. The cornerstone was laid in 1893, and the church was dedicated in the memory of Elliott Fitch Shepard, who died before the completion of the new building. The church has been a significant part of the community, serving as a place of worship and education. The church’s rectory, built in 1931, was a memorial to the first two rectors, Creighton and Meade, and is a testament to the church’s long-standing presence in the area

Taken with a Sony A7IV and Minolta 45mm f2

The Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel is a historic Roman Catholic parish church building located in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York.

In the early 1900s the Italian population of the city of Poughkeepsie had increased substantially. Fr. William Livingston, pastor of St. Peter’s, invited the growing Italian community to use the lower church for Masses offered by Rev. Angelus M. Iacobucci (d. March 30, 1955). Livingston and his successor, Rev. Joseph F. Sheahan, recognized that these Italian parishioners would be better served by a priest who spoke their own language and was familiar with the community’s customs. At the time, the Mass was in Latin, but the preaching was done in the vernacular.) Unfortunately, because the Mass for the Italians was in the lower church, this was interpreted by many in the Italian community as the Irish having relegated them to the cellar. This was a contributing factor in the Italian community organizing to build their own church

Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish was incorporated on February 20, 1908 as a national parish for Italians even though within the parish boundaries of St. Peter’s, Poughkeepsie. Property was purchased June 1909 for a new church from John I. Platt on the west side of Cataract Place, on what is now Mount Carmel Place and ground was broken the following March. The cornerstone was laid May 1, 1910 by Bishop Cusack and the church was consecrated on October 12, 1910, by the Rt. Rev. Mgr. Michael Lavelle, V.G. A rectory was built November 1913. In 1913, the parish contained 245 families of about 1,700 souls.

The first pastor was the Rev. Nicola Pavone, who was born at Trivento, Italy, on August 18, 1878, ordained at a seminary there December 23, 1901, and studied at La Minerva University in Rome. From 1903 to 1904, he had a bishop’s secretary in Trivento, then he taught at the seminary at Larino before arriving in New York on December 20, 1905, where he was assigned to St. Peter’s in Poughkeepsie In a gesture of friendship and gratitude to St. Peter’s Church for having hosted the Italian community prior to the building of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Fr. Pavone asked the pastor of St. Peter’s at the time Monsignor Joseph Sheahan to offer the first Mass in the newly built Mt. Carmel church after its consecration.

In 1965, when Msgr. Joseph Raimondo was pastor, the congregation moved into the former St. Peter’s church edifice at 97 Mill Street, when St. Peter’s parish re-located to the southeast corner of Dorsey Avenue and Violet Avenue in Hyde Park, NY. (Currently, Astor Services currently occupies the original Church building on Mount Carmel Place.

Italian American pastors, such as Rev. August DiBlasi, Rev. Anthony Mestice, Rev. Mario Ziccarelli, Rev. Mario Bastone, and Rev. Richard LaMorte continued to serve the community, even as many second and third generation Italians who grew up in the Mount Carmel neighborhood, moved out of the City of Poughkeepsie into the surrounding Town of Poughkeepsie but continued to return to Mount Carmel as their neighborhood church. The area has been home to many of Poughkeepsie’s new immigrant populations, starting with the Irish, later the Italians. Still home to several Italian restaurants and bakeries, the area is widely referred to as Poughkeepsie’s Little Italy. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is now merged with St. Mary and St. Joseph parishes under the pastorship of Rev. Ronald Perez.

It is a brick and marble structure, in the Roman style, and seats 400. Parish tradition holds that much of the brick for the church was actually acquired by the Italian laborers working on the railroad, although it unclear whether this is true and if so, if the bricks were left over, thrown away bricks, or bricks that were supposed to be used for a job

Taken with a Sony A7CII and Sony FE 28-70 f3.5-5.6 OSS

The Old Church of St. Peter is a Roman Catholic church established under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York in 1837. It is the second oldest Catholic Church on the Hudson (after St. Mary’s in Albany) and is considered the Mother Church of the Hudson Valley because from it all the parishes in Ulster and Dutchess counties were founded. The church is also referred to as Our Lady of Mount Carmel since 1965 when St. Peter’s parish relocated to Hyde Park, New York and the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel church (located a block away) relocated to site.

Twenty-two years after the Diocese of New York was founded in 1808, Bishop John DuBois, in 1830, authorized a Dominican, Father Phillip O’Reilly to establish parishes on the Hudson River north of Manhattan Island. The first congregation he ministered to was the small group of 28 Irish-born Catholic families, who on October 14, 1831, were organized as the Congregation on the Hudson.

Philip O’Reilly O.P. was stationed at Newburgh, New York from 1830 to 1832 and would visit Poughkeepsie once a month in summer. Fr. Patrick Duffy was pastor of Paterson, New Jersey from 1823 to 1836, when he was sent first to Our Lady of Loretto in Cold Spring. From there he served congregations in West Point, Cold Spring, Newburgh, Saugerties, Rondout, and Poughkeepsie. When the house of Robert Belton became too small for the number attending, Mass was celebrated in the old brewery, near the Lower Landing at Pine Street. And later at the Hibbasus’ hall on Market Street near Jay Street.

By 1825 emigrants from Ireland were numerous enough in Poughkeepsie to form a well defined segment of the population. In 1837 a church building was erected on land donated by Peter Everett. When some bigoted individuals threatened to burn it down, a vigilance committee, made up of Catholics and Protestants, was formed to defend it. Dr. Pyne, a non-Catholic offered the defenders the loan of a small cannon. There was no further trouble. The church was dedicated by Bishop DuBois on November 26, 1837. Rev. Patrick Duffy, pastor of Our Lady of Loreto Parish in Cold Springs who had been charged with the spiritual care of Poughkeepsie was then transferred to Newburgh. Rev. John McGinnis was named first pastor of St. Peter’s Parish in Poughkeepsie. The missions at Saugerties and Rondout were made dependencies of St. Peter’s with expectation that each would be attended at least once a month.

In 1839 McGinnis was transferred to St. James in New York and succeeded by Rev. John N. Smith. It was Smith who erected a small frame church at Rondout. He also made pastoral trips to Rosendale. In 1842 Rev. Myles Maxwell became pastor at St. Peter’s when Smith was himself assigned to St. James in New York. (Smith would die there in February 1848, having contracted ship’s fever while attending the deathbed of Rev. Mark Murphy who had been ministering to immigrants at the quarantine station on Staten Island.)

Father Michael Riordan became pastor in September 1844 and “steered it safely” through the “Know-Nothing” agitation at that time. He had substantial influence among the Irish building the railroad and more than once quelled disturbances that threatened to turn into riots.

In 1894 Father James Nilan commissioned the paintings of the Stations of the Cross and had them shipped from Rome. The Apostolic Nuncio from Washington and Archbishop Michael Corrigan of New York attended the dedication. Removed during subsequent renovation, they were discovered when Our Lady of Mount Carmel assumed occupancy of Old St. Peter’s and restored. Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish held a celebration in 1994, on the centennial anniversary of their dedication

The abandoned rectory burned around 1977.

In 1965 St. Peter’s parish re-located to Hyde Park, NY, although it kept a Poughkeepsie address. A school and convent were built and parish Masses were offered in the school chapel and auditorium. A rectory was not built until 1975 and until then priests continued to commute from the rectory in the city of Poughkeepsie. Currently, the parish offices are at St. Peter’s Cemetery on Salt Point Turnpike. In 1999, St. Peter’s Parish worked out a deal with New York State to use the Chapel of Our Lady of the Rosary which had been part of Hudson River State Hospital. St. Peter’s parishioners restored the chapel by June 29, 1999. The state sold the chapel to the Archdiocese of New York and granted easements of access on West Cottage and Recreation Drive.

Taken with a Sony A7CII and Sony FE 28-70 f3.5-5.6 OSS

This one is the First Presbyterian Church.

According to the Village of Ossining Significant Sites and Structures Guide, Page 196:

Property Name: First Presbyterian Church
Street Address: 34 South Highland Avenue
Section, Block, and Lot: Section 89.19, Block 4, Lot 52
Historic District: Downtown Ossining Historic District
Architect/Builder: Isaac Gale Perry, Architect; Peter H. Terhune, Contractor.
Date of Construction: 1870
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 the Gothic Revival architecture, structures in this style also contain such elements as steeply pitched rooflines, elaborate ornamentation, and a predominantly vertical orientation.
The First Presbyterian Church is two stories in height with rectangular massing. The front façade is dominated by two front towers on either side of the main entryway. Typical of the High Victorian Gothic style, the church makes use of the polychrome theme with contrasting brick colors on window sills, lintels, surrounds, buttress caps, and surrounding the main entrance. The gothic pointed arch motif is used for window openings and entryways. The gabled main entrance, which faces South Highland Avenue, is surrounded with elaborate limestone work. The church originally was constructed with a tall steeple on the southeast tower that was subsequently removed in the 1950s when the building was renovated and modernized. The church is constructed with brick and limestone.

Significance: Architectural and Cultural

The First Presbyterian Church is National Register-listed as a contributing structure within the Downtown Ossining Historic District. It is architecturally significant as a well-preserved example of High Victorian Gothic architecture within Ossining. Other structures of this style include the First Baptist Church (see entry) and the First Presbyterian Church (see entry). This structure is also culturally significant as the home of the First Presbyterian Congregation of Ossining.

Narrative:

The First Presbyterian Congregation was formed in 1763 and originally occupied a site located in what is now Sparta Cemetery on land donated by Frederick Phillipse, owner of the vast Phillipse Estate that stretched from modern-day Kingsbridge, Bronx to the Croton River. The original building was damaged during the Revolutionary War, prompting the congregation to build a new structure in the village of Sing Sing on the site of the current Trinity Episcopal Church at 7 South Highland Avenue in 1803. As the congregation grew, this church was expanded until it was no longer adequate to house all those who wished to worship there. The present church was constructed from 1868 to 1870 for a cost of approximately $95,000 by contractor Peter H. Terhune of Binghamton, NY and designed by architect Isaac Gale Perry. Perry was later appointed as the State Architect for the State of New York and designed the final phase of the New York State Capitol in Albany from 1883 to 1899 as well as the New York State Armory in Poughkeepsie in 1891.

Taken with a Sony RX100 MVII