First Baptist Church of Ossining
Encyclopedia
The First Baptist Church of Ossining is located in the center of the village of Ossining
, New York, United States. It is a brick building in the Gothic Revival architectural style
with a tall wooden steeple built in the 1870s, one of Ossining's most prominent landmarks. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Sixteen years later, in 1989, it was included as a contributing property
to the Downtown Ossining
Historic District
when it was listed on the Register.
First Baptist, begun in late 18th-century prayer meetings, is the oldest religious congregation in Ossining. Founder Elijah Hunter, who also established Ossining, began holding regular prayer meetings at his house in 1786. In the church's early years, masters and slaves held equal standing as congregants. The church was later instrumental in helping establish black churches in the area.
).
On the northern tip of the triangle is a former bank building. The opposite side of Main Street is lined with a row of two-story 19th-century brick commercial buildings. Just west of the church, as the terrain slopes gently toward the Hudson River
, the trail following the Old Croton Aqueduct, a National Historic Landmark
, crosses Main. Across Church is a large parking lot between two larger commercial buildings. Ossining High School
is a short distance to the southeast on the east side of South Highland. Immediately opposite the church are houses south of Ellis and another house of worship, Trinity Episcopal Church, on the north corner.
and pierced by four similarly gabled dormer windows on either side. On the east corner of the south (front) elevation is a tall steeple
with the main entrance. The west elevation has a shed-roofed wing.
That facade has a large five-part lancet arched stained glass window springing from a stone belt course
. In its upper woodwork are quatrefoil
s, the church exterior's prinicipal motif, surmounted by segmented limestone
. Two fluted
wooden colonettes rising from corbel
s on either side support an intricate vergeboard with more quatrefoils amid it. It hides the exposed hammerbeam
truss
es of the roof's structural system.
A smaller two-part window at the front of the west wing has a similar treatment to the main window, with a smaller quatrefoil. Just around the corner is a gabled side entrance with projecting roof supported by side brackets
and a large quatrefoil in the transom. The four small tripartite arched stained glass windows along the facade to the north are separated by buttress
es. At their north another steep gabled projection with quatrefoil and vergeboards shelters a taller, narrow tripartite arched window. At the very end is a smaller, narrower window with corresponding quatrefoil. On the east, a fifth window is located at the south end; otherwise, its fenestration
is identical. The roof dormers, on both sides, have vergeboards that form quatrefoils.
Both ends of the rear section are centered around large blind lancet arches with crosses. Below the west window are three narrow windows set in the same wood as the arch; the east side has two arched double-hung windows beneath the blind arch with a third such window to the north and a single-paned diamond-glass window to the south. A vergeboard pattern echoes the arch on the west end; the east end has no vergeboards but a row of corbeled bricks paralleling the roofline.
On the north facade the central section projects slightly. It has a window similar to its counterpart upfront, without the flanking colonettes. Above it are the exposed trusses, without any vergeboards. The two sections on the rear of the cross-section have narrow windows in their exposed basement and a single tripartite lancet-arched stained-glass window in the second story.
Above each window is the beginning of a square wooden central column that divides the two louver
ed lancet-arched vents on each face, now done in painted galvanized sheet iron rather than brick. Midway up each corner, smaller square columns begin. All rise through the cornice
that tops the third stage, where they end in pyramids topped by nested pyramids, the corners higher than the central columns, all echoing the steeple's peaked roof. At its top is a small Celtic cross
.
. It leads to an interior with extensive and ornate carved woodwork in Gothic motifs set amid plaster walls. A wide central aisle divides the box pew
s, their aisle ends topped with a trefoil motif. Two narrower aisles run through the side sections from either entrance. The floor is carpeted. The intricate stained-glass windows depict Biblical scenes of importance to the church's evangelical beliefs.
Round wooden columns, corniced midway up, support the ceiling's exposed trusses. Narrower columns support the balcony in the rear, and the three-faceted balcony with the church's pipe organ
over the altar, raised five feet (5 feet (1.5 m)) off the floor. Atop it is an 8 by white marble baptistry. The rooms in the basement are used for Sunday school
classes, meetings and office space.
who founded Ossining, started holding Baptist prayer meetings at his house in 1786. This grew rapidly, and four years later, 33 congregants formally incorporated the church. They continued to meet in homes until Hunter donated the land for a small meeting house on the present site in 1815. During the early years, slaves
and their masters attended services. Both were considered full members of the congregation, and treated equally in the church.
The original building was altered in 1834, and again in 1850. Originally the church had no facility for baptism
s, so those took place in a small cove on the Hudson River
just south of where the village's train station
is now. In 1865 the present white marble baptistry was installed.
By that time the church was beginning to outgrow its original structure, and the congregation began considering a new one. Brooklyn architect J. Walsh's Gothic Revival design, with triangles and quatrefoil
s representing the Trinity
and the four Gospel
s respectively, was dedicated in 1874. It had cost $75,000 ($ in modern dollars) for local contractor John Hoff to build. The church was able to finance it purely from donations from the congregation, without taking out a mortgage.
Later in the 19th century the church continued its early tradition of support for the local African-American community. At its centennial celebrations in 1890, an itinerant African-American minister requested the church's help in establishing a 'black' Baptist Church in the village. First Baptist and its congregation responded, and Star of Bethlehem Baptist Church was established on South Spring Street. It continues to hold services today.
In 1916 the church was wired for electricity. Almost a century later, after its 200th anniversary celebrations, the church and donors were able to restore all the original stained glass windows. There have been no significant alterations to the building other than those.
, the divinity of Christ, and salvation
through "repentance
and faith in the blood of Christ alone".
The church holds adult Sunday school
and junior church for children every Sunday, with Communion
held on the first Sunday of every month. Services are televised on cable channels in the Ossining area, with streaming video
available over the Internet at telemissions.com. During the rest of the week men's and women's fellowship sessions are held along with Bible study
groups. The church also operates a thrift shop. Two Spanish-language services are held every week to serve the area's growing Latin immigrant
population.
Ossining (village), New York
Ossining is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 25,060 at the 2010 census. As a village, it is located in the Town of Ossining.-Geography:Ossining borders the eastern shores of the widest part of the Hudson River....
, New York, United States. It is a brick building in the Gothic Revival architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
with a tall wooden steeple built in the 1870s, one of Ossining's most prominent landmarks. In 1973 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Sixteen years later, in 1989, it was included as a contributing property
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to the Downtown Ossining
Downtown Ossining Historic District
The Downtown Ossining Historic District is located at the central crossroads of Ossining, New York, United States, and the village's traditional business district known as the Crescent. Among its many late 19th- and early 20th-century commercial buildings are many of the village's major...
Historic District
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
when it was listed on the Register.
First Baptist, begun in late 18th-century prayer meetings, is the oldest religious congregation in Ossining. Founder Elijah Hunter, who also established Ossining, began holding regular prayer meetings at his house in 1786. In the church's early years, masters and slaves held equal standing as congregants. The church was later instrumental in helping establish black churches in the area.
Building
The church lot takes up most of the triangular block at the crossroads where Ossining was first established, between Main Street on the northwest, Church Street on the southwest, and South Highland Avenue (U.S. Route 9) on the east. Ellis Place is directly opposite the church. The block is just south of the intersection with Croton Avenue (New York State Route 133New York State Route 133
New York State Route 133 is a state highway in Westchester County, New York. It begins at US 9 in the village of Ossining, goes through several hamlets in the town of New Castle , and ends at NY 117 in the village of Mount Kisco.-Route description:NY 133 begins in downtown...
).
On the northern tip of the triangle is a former bank building. The opposite side of Main Street is lined with a row of two-story 19th-century brick commercial buildings. Just west of the church, as the terrain slopes gently toward the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
, the trail following the Old Croton Aqueduct, a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
, crosses Main. Across Church is a large parking lot between two larger commercial buildings. Ossining High School
Ossining High School
Ossining High School is public high school, located in Ossining, New York, colloquially known as OHS. Its building is located within the boundaries of the Downtown Ossining Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989....
is a short distance to the southeast on the east side of South Highland. Immediately opposite the church are houses south of Ellis and another house of worship, Trinity Episcopal Church, on the north corner.
Exterior
A low cast iron fence surrounds the lot, shaded on the east side by tall mature trees. The building itself is a one-and-a-half–story T-shaped brick structure on a stone foundation. Its steeply pitched gabled roofs are shingled in slateSlate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...
and pierced by four similarly gabled dormer windows on either side. On the east corner of the south (front) elevation is a tall steeple
Steeple (architecture)
A steeple, in architecture, is a tall tower on a building, often topped by a spire. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a religious structure...
with the main entrance. The west elevation has a shed-roofed wing.
That facade has a large five-part lancet arched stained glass window springing from a stone belt course
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
. In its upper woodwork are quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
s, the church exterior's prinicipal motif, surmounted by segmented limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
. Two fluted
Fluting (architecture)
Fluting in architecture refers to the shallow grooves running vertically along a surface.It typically refers to the grooves running on a column shaft or a pilaster, but need not necessarily be restricted to those two applications...
wooden colonettes rising from corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s on either side support an intricate vergeboard with more quatrefoils amid it. It hides the exposed hammerbeam
Hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof, in architecture, is the name given to an open timber roof, typical of English Gothic architecture, using short beams projecting from the wall.- Design :...
truss
Truss
In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...
es of the roof's structural system.
A smaller two-part window at the front of the west wing has a similar treatment to the main window, with a smaller quatrefoil. Just around the corner is a gabled side entrance with projecting roof supported by side brackets
Bracket (architecture)
A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
and a large quatrefoil in the transom. The four small tripartite arched stained glass windows along the facade to the north are separated by buttress
Buttress
A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall...
es. At their north another steep gabled projection with quatrefoil and vergeboards shelters a taller, narrow tripartite arched window. At the very end is a smaller, narrower window with corresponding quatrefoil. On the east, a fifth window is located at the south end; otherwise, its fenestration
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
is identical. The roof dormers, on both sides, have vergeboards that form quatrefoils.
Both ends of the rear section are centered around large blind lancet arches with crosses. Below the west window are three narrow windows set in the same wood as the arch; the east side has two arched double-hung windows beneath the blind arch with a third such window to the north and a single-paned diamond-glass window to the south. A vergeboard pattern echoes the arch on the west end; the east end has no vergeboards but a row of corbeled bricks paralleling the roofline.
On the north facade the central section projects slightly. It has a window similar to its counterpart upfront, without the flanking colonettes. Above it are the exposed trusses, without any vergeboards. The two sections on the rear of the cross-section have narrow windows in their exposed basement and a single tripartite lancet-arched stained-glass window in the second story.
Steeple
The first of the steeple's four stages has corner buttresses and two stone belt courses, the upper one serving as the springline for the quatrefoiled transom over the main entrance on the south side. Another course, slightly flared, marks the beginning of the next stage, with a narrow lancet window in the center of each side. Each has diamond glass and some vergeboard in the arch.Above each window is the beginning of a square wooden central column that divides the two louver
Louver
A louver or louvre , from the French l'ouvert; "the open one") is a window, blind or shutter with horizontal slats that are angled to admit light and air, but to keep out rain, direct sunshine, and noise...
ed lancet-arched vents on each face, now done in painted galvanized sheet iron rather than brick. Midway up each corner, smaller square columns begin. All rise through the cornice
Cornice
Cornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
that tops the third stage, where they end in pyramids topped by nested pyramids, the corners higher than the central columns, all echoing the steeple's peaked roof. At its top is a small Celtic cross
Celtic cross
A Celtic cross is a symbol that combines a cross with a ring surrounding the intersection. In the Celtic Christian world it was combined with the Christian cross and this design was often used for high crosses – a free-standing cross made of stone and often richly decorated...
.
Interior
A heavy wooden double door in a limestone-topped lancet arch leads into the sanctuarySanctuary
A sanctuary is any place of safety. They may be categorized into human and non-human .- Religious sanctuary :A religious sanctuary can be a sacred place , or a consecrated area of a church or temple around its tabernacle or altar.- Sanctuary as a sacred place :#Sanctuary as a sacred place:#:In...
. It leads to an interior with extensive and ornate carved woodwork in Gothic motifs set amid plaster walls. A wide central aisle divides the box pew
Pew
A pew is a long bench seat or enclosed box used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a church, or sometimes in a courtroom.-Overview:Churches were not commonly furnished with permanent pews before the Protestant Reformation...
s, their aisle ends topped with a trefoil motif. Two narrower aisles run through the side sections from either entrance. The floor is carpeted. The intricate stained-glass windows depict Biblical scenes of importance to the church's evangelical beliefs.
Round wooden columns, corniced midway up, support the ceiling's exposed trusses. Narrower columns support the balcony in the rear, and the three-faceted balcony with the church's pipe organ
Pipe organ
The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurized air through pipes selected via a keyboard. Because each organ pipe produces a single pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ranks, each of which has a common timbre and volume throughout the keyboard compass...
over the altar, raised five feet (5 feet (1.5 m)) off the floor. Atop it is an 8 by white marble baptistry. The rooms in the basement are used for Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
classes, meetings and office space.
History
Elijah Hunter, a captain in the Revolutionary WarAmerican Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
who founded Ossining, started holding Baptist prayer meetings at his house in 1786. This grew rapidly, and four years later, 33 congregants formally incorporated the church. They continued to meet in homes until Hunter donated the land for a small meeting house on the present site in 1815. During the early years, slaves
History of slavery in New York
Slavery in New York was instituted when the New Amsterdam fur trading-post developed into a farming colony in the 17th century; the first African slaves were imported by the Dutch West Indies Company to New Amsterdam in 1626...
and their masters attended services. Both were considered full members of the congregation, and treated equally in the church.
The original building was altered in 1834, and again in 1850. Originally the church had no facility for baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
s, so those took place in a small cove on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
just south of where the village's train station
Ossining (Metro-North station)
The Ossining Metro-North Railroad station serves residents of Ossining, New York via the Hudson Line and is one of four express stations on that line south of Croton–Harmon seeing most trains minus peak hour trains to/from Poughkeepsie. Trains leave for New York City every 25 to 35 minutes on...
is now. In 1865 the present white marble baptistry was installed.
By that time the church was beginning to outgrow its original structure, and the congregation began considering a new one. Brooklyn architect J. Walsh's Gothic Revival design, with triangles and quatrefoil
Quatrefoil
The word quatrefoil etymologically means "four leaves", and applies to general four-lobed shapes in various contexts.-In heraldry:In heraldic terminology, a quatrefoil is a representation of a flower with four petals, or a leaf with four leaflets . It is sometimes shown "slipped", i.e. with an...
s representing the Trinity
Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
and the four Gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
s respectively, was dedicated in 1874. It had cost $75,000 ($ in modern dollars) for local contractor John Hoff to build. The church was able to finance it purely from donations from the congregation, without taking out a mortgage.
Later in the 19th century the church continued its early tradition of support for the local African-American community. At its centennial celebrations in 1890, an itinerant African-American minister requested the church's help in establishing a 'black' Baptist Church in the village. First Baptist and its congregation responded, and Star of Bethlehem Baptist Church was established on South Spring Street. It continues to hold services today.
In 1916 the church was wired for electricity. Almost a century later, after its 200th anniversary celebrations, the church and donors were able to restore all the original stained glass windows. There have been no significant alterations to the building other than those.
The church today
Ossining First Baptist follows a traditional Baptist creed. "The Bible is the inspired and only infallible Word of God and our rule and guide for Faith, Life and Doctrine", its website says. This includes a belief in the TrinityTrinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...
, the divinity of Christ, and salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
through "repentance
Repentance
Repentance is a change of thought to correct a wrong and gain forgiveness from a person who is wronged. In religious contexts it usually refers to confession to God, ceasing sin against God, and resolving to live according to religious law...
and faith in the blood of Christ alone".
The church holds adult Sunday school
Sunday school
Sunday school is the generic name for many different types of religious education pursued on Sundays by various denominations.-England:The first Sunday school may have been opened in 1751 in St. Mary's Church, Nottingham. Another early start was made by Hannah Ball, a native of High Wycombe in...
and junior church for children every Sunday, with Communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
held on the first Sunday of every month. Services are televised on cable channels in the Ossining area, with streaming video
Streaming media
Streaming media is multimedia that is constantly received by and presented to an end-user while being delivered by a streaming provider.The term "presented" is used in this article in a general sense that includes audio or video playback. The name refers to the delivery method of the medium rather...
available over the Internet at telemissions.com. During the rest of the week men's and women's fellowship sessions are held along with Bible study
Bible study (Christian)
In Christianity, Bible study is the study of the Bible by ordinary people as a personal religious or spiritual practice. Some denominations may call this devotion or devotional acts; however in other denominations devotion has other meanings...
groups. The church also operates a thrift shop. Two Spanish-language services are held every week to serve the area's growing Latin immigrant
Latin American culture
Latin American culture is the formal or informal expression of the peoples of Latin America, and includes both high culture and popular culture as well as religion and other customary practices....
population.
See also
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Westchester County, New York