Portal:Hudson Valley/Selected article/7

The Dutch Reformed Church is one of the most prominent architectural landmarks in Newburgh, New York. It was designed by Alexander Jackson Davis in 1835 in the Greek Revival style common in America in that time period. It is his only surviving church in that style and is considered to be his latest building still standing that largely reflects his original vision. It is located at 132 Grand Street, just north of the Newburgh Free Library. Its historical importance comes from not just over a century of use as church, but its centrality in the struggle by modern preservationists to save and restore the city's many landmark buildings. Today it is a National Historic Landmark. It was almost razed in the late 1960s, and even today is far from completely restored. The church is 50 feet (15 m) wide and high, and 100 feet (30.5 m) long. The four front Ionic order columns are 37 feet (12 m) high (the capitals have been removed for safety considerations at the moment). It sits on a bluff 250 feet (76 m) above the Hudson River, a few blocks away. The southward orientation of the columns and facade, the direction in which most shipping approached the city, was meant to echo the similar marine outreach of the Parthenon or the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion in Greece. While the church had the neighborhood of Grand Avenue and Third Street to itself at the time of its construction, today it has become rather crowded. Archives • Read more...