New Hackensack Reformed Dutch Church, State Route 376, .4 mile north of intersection with New Hackensack Road, Wappingers Falls, Dutchess County, NY
Summary
Significance: The New Hackensack Reform Dutch Church is significant historically and architecturally. Its long history in an important area of Dutch settlement and culture in lower Duchess County identifies as a landmark in the diverse and complex cultural geography of the Hudson Valley. In addition to illustrating the dispersion of Dutch communities in the region, the church is also noteworthy as a part of the network of Reformed Dutch churches that developed in the country and the colony. When the congregation abandoned its small, frame 18th century church for the monumental brick edifice in 1834, they graphically registered the distance the American society has covered in a brief century of existence; they also revealed their involvement and commitment in the new societies of the democratic age. Architecturally, the church exhibits both the exuberance of progress and the restraint of tradition in true ethnic, rural fashion. The building is a significant example of Federal period rural church design and regional taste. Finely crafted and appointed, it displays the work of an adept architect and skilled builders. The church changed later over the 160 years of its history, leaving it as a rare and instructive example of early American architecture.
Survey number: HABS NY-6332
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