St. Philip's Church In The Highlands
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St. Philip's Church in the
Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...
is an Episcopal church located on
New York State Route 9D New York State Route 9D (NY 9D) is a north–south state highway in the Hudson Valley region of New York in the United States. It starts at the eastern end of the Bear Mountain Bridge at an intersection with U.S. Route 6 (US&n ...
in the
hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
of
Garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. It is a stone
Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
building designed by
Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...
, a congregant of the church, opened in 1865. The church itself has a long and complex history, dating back to
colonial times The ''Colonial Times'' was a newspaper in what is now the Australian state of Tasmania. It was established as the ''Colonial Times, and Tasmanian Advertiser'' in 1825 in Hobart, Van Diemen's Land Van Diemen's Land was the colon ...
. Its development has paralleled and sometimes spurred that of the Garrison community itself, and it was accepted for listing on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1982. However, the church itself objected, and it was not formally added to the Register until 1995.


History


Colonial era and Revolution

The church was originally established ca. 1770 when St. Peter's Church in
Peekskill Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fr ...
was granted
charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
by
King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
. The wardens,
Beverley Robinson Beverley Robinson (11 January 1721 – 9 April 1792), was a Virginia-born soldier who became a wealthy colonist of the Province of New York and is best known as a Loyalist during the American Revolutionary War. Robinson married Susanna Philips ...
and Charles Moore, decided to establish a
parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...
to the north, in the area known as Four Corners, to serve families in that area. After a short period in another church and a parishioner's home, a small wooden
chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...
was built where the present church stands. The current graveyard was also started at the same time. The new complex was possibly named St. Philip's in honor of the Philipse family, original patentees of the area and Robinson's in-laws. The Rev. John Doty, the first
rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of both churches, left for
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after a few years as he was a staunch
Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
in an area increasingly divided over
revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...
politics. Robinson, too, declined an invitation from his friend
John Jay John Jay (December 12, 1745 – May 17, 1829) was an American statesman, patriot, diplomat, abolitionist, signatory of the Treaty of Paris, and a Founding Father of the United States. He served as the second governor of New York and the first ...
to swear allegiance to the newly created United States, and actively worked to support the British by organizing the Loyal American Legion and coordinating
intelligence Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can b ...
-gathering efforts. His lands and home were eventually confiscated by the new government of New York, and he left for England after the war, never to return. A similar fate would befall half of St. Philip's families, and the church was so despised locally for its Tory associations that legend has it a mob came together to burn it down at one point during the later years. They were supposedly dissuaded from doing so by
George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
himself, who stood at the door and said "That, sir, is my church!" In gratitude the
stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
window in the church's vestibule depicts him.


Post-Revolution

For the first few years of
American independence The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
, the church lay vacant as it and the community began to rebuild. In 1786
William Denning William Denning (April 1740October 30, 1819) was a merchant and United States Representative from New York. Early life Denning was likely born in St. John's in the Newfoundland Colony in April 1740. As a youth, he moved to New York City in ...
, who had taken over from Robinson as both landowner and warden, had the altar and interior refurbished. Six years later the parish received its first new minister, the Rev. Andrew Fowler, who himself left after a few years to help establish the Episcopal Church in
South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...
. Garrison Union Free School, erected for local families in the 1830s, still stands and has been moved across Route 9D. The church was rebuilt in 1837. In 1840, with Garrison and the church itself becoming populous enough to rival
Peekskill Peekskill is a city in northwestern Westchester County, New York, United States, from New York City. Established as a village in 1816, it was incorporated as a city in 1940. It lies on a bay along the east side of the Hudson River, across fr ...
and St. Peter's, the parish was separately incorporated. A board and
batten A batten is most commonly a strip of solid material, historically wood but can also be of plastic, metal, or fiberglass. Battens are variously used in construction, sailing, and other fields. In the lighting industry, battens refer to linea ...
rectory A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or ministers of religion. Residences of this type can have a variety of names, such as manse, parsonage, rectory or vicarage. Function A clergy house is typically ow ...
was built in 1854.


New building

A new pastor, the Rev. Charles Frederick Hoffman, arrived in May 1860. The completion of the
Hudson River Railroad The New York Central Railroad was a railroad primarily operating in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The railroad primarily connected greater New York and Boston in the east with Chicago and St. Louis in the Mid ...
through nearby Garrison Landing had made the community more accessible to
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
and a desirable place to live for some of the most socially prominent families of the day, many of whom were congregants. Hoffman saw that the growing church needed a new building. His congregation responded. Henry Belcher donated three acres (1.2 ha) for the building and grounds, and others raised $10,000 for its construction. The design came from another worshipper at St. Philip's,
Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...
, already famous for Manhattan's Trinity Church. The new structure, a one-story Gothic Revival building of gray
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, was finished in 1861 and
consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...
the next year. In the decades afterwards, a
carriage house A carriage house, also called a remise or coach house, is an outbuilding which was originally built to house horse-drawn carriages and the related tack. In Great Britain the farm building was called a cart shed. These typically were open f ...
and shed were built near the church. At the turn of the century, a parish house was built to the designs of George E. Harney and William S. Purdy, former residents of Cold Spring and architectural partners.


20th century

The early years of the 20th century would be marked by a bitter controversy within the church when a chapel established to the east of the mountains inland became first the site of a
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
and then home to the Graymoor Friars, who left Anglicanism for the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
in 1909. St. Philip's insisted it retained title to the land (now at the junction of US Route 9, NY Route 403 and the
Appalachian Trail The Appalachian Trail (also called the A.T.), is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states.Gailey, Chris (2006)"Appalachian Tr ...
) and it took an act of the state legislature to settle the dispute in favor of the friars. The animosity lingered for many years. The year before the Friars left, St. Philip's had received a new rector, the Rev. Edward Clowes Chorley. He wrote a two-volume history of St. Philip's and other churches and would, years later, serve as editor-in-chief of ''
Anglican & Episcopal History Anglican & Episcopal History is a peer reviewed journal published quarterly (March, June, September, and December) by the Historical Society of the Episcopal Church. History Established in 1932 as the ''Historical Magazine of the Protestant Episc ...
''. While in Garrison he oversaw the installation of
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...
and
gas lighting Gas lighting is the production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, such as hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, coal gas (town gas) or natural gas. The light is produced either directl ...
in the building and the introduction of a boys'
choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
. Outside the church, Chorley oversaw the replacement of the original rectory in 1911, and then a sexton's house six years later. All are today considered
contributing properties In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distri ...
to the National Register listing. During this time, he also helped to found Garrison's
volunteer fire department A volunteer fire department (VFD) is a fire department of volunteers who perform fire suppression and other related emergency services for a local jurisdiction. Volunteer and retained (on-call) firefighters are expected to be on call to respond t ...
. A
kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cent ...
was later established at the church until it was moved into the expanded school facilities in the 1960s, when the
nursery school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...
program was established. William Reisman, who began a 27-year tenure as rector that same year, modernized and redecorated many of the buildings, adding protective covers for the stained-glass windows. He also began
adult education Adult education, distinct from child education, is a practice in which adults engage in systematic and sustained self-educating activities in order to gain new forms of knowledge, skills, attitudes, or values. Merriam, Sharan B. & Brockett, Ralp ...
classes at the church and updated Chorley's history to the 1970s. Under his successor, Francis Geer, the church installed a new
pipe organ The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ''ranks ...
and replaced the roof and interior floor of the parish house, used as a meeting for many of Garrison's community groups. A memorial garden was built north of it, to serve as a greeting area after services.


References


External links


Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Philip's Church in the Highlands Episcopal church buildings in New York (state) Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Religious organizations established in 1840 Churches completed in 1861 Richard Upjohn church buildings 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Churches in Putnam County, New York 1840 establishments in New York (state) 1770 establishments in the Province of New York National Register of Historic Places in Putnam County, New York