First Presbyterian Church is a historic

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

located at

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ) is a city within the Town of Poughkeepsie, New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie is in the Hudson River Valley region, midway between the core of the New ...

Dutchess County, New York Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later o ...

. It was built in 1905 and is a large, five-sided stone building with a wing. It features a three-story square tower with a pyramidal roof and arched Romanesque window surrounds. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1982. The related

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

was added at the same time.

History

The First Presbyterian Church in Poughkeepsie, New York was organized in 1749. Services were conducted first in connection with Fishkill and afterwards in connection with the Charlotte Precinct, which included Washington Hollow and Pleasant Valley. In September 1826, the North River Presbytery re-organized the church with eighteen members and installed Rev. Alonso Welton as pastor. The congregation first worshiped in an old frame building on Church Street, before moving to Cannon Street in December 1826. Reverend Thomas Woodrow, maternal grandfather of President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

, preached in Poughkeepsie after emigrating from Scotland in 1835.Weinstein, Edwin A., ''Woodrow Wilson'', Princeton University Press, 2014, p. 4

References

Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Romanesque Revival church buildings in New York (state) Churches completed in 1905 20th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Churches in Poughkeepsie, New York National Register of Historic Places in Poughkeepsie, New York 1905 establishments in New York (state) {{NewYork-Presbyterian-church-stub