NEW YORK – The New York Landmarks Conservancy has awarded $10,000 each to Calvary Presbyterian Church in the City of Newburgh and Hebrew Congregation of Mountaindale.
The Calvary Presbyterian Church will use the funds toward architectural services to guide tower restoration. Completed in 1858 as architect Frederick Clarke Withers’ first church commission, the Gothic-revival stone church sits in Newburgh’s East End. The granite church has polychrome slate roof, stone buttresses, and a large three state stone bell tower set to the northeast of the sanctuary standing as a separate mass from the church. The church is one of the first to have been electrified in New York State.
The church hosts a homeless ministry, Habitat for Humanity programs, a daycare center, and reaches about 1,200 people a year.
Hebrew Congregation of Mountaindale will use its grant to help fund roof replacement. In the first half of the 20th century, Mountaindale was a popular Catskills vacation railroad destination, with nearby resorts and bungalow colonies.
The synagogue, of wood frame construction with stucco cladding, was constructed circa 1915-17, and a one-story, front vestibule addition was added in 1930. Original marbleized finishes at the sanctuary interior, in a rich variety of colors and styles, were restored in the 1970s. The synagogue includes a one-story ritual bath – a mikvah – next door to the east, also stucco-clad, dating from 1940. Although the builder of the synagogue is unknown, the interior marbleizing and painting were done by local residents, and the mikvah was constructed by congregation members.
The Orthodox synagogue is the oldest seasonally operated congregation in the Catskills region.
“We feel it is very important to help maintain religious structures that provide a sense of history and place to communities,” said Peg Breen, president of The New York Landmarks Conservancy. “Many also provide social service and cultural programs that benefit people beyond their congregations.”
