View source for St. Luke's Episcopal Church (Beacon, New York)

{{short description|Historic church in New York, United States}}

{{Infobox religious building
| building_name         = St. Luke's Episcopal Church
| image                 = St Luke's Episcopal Church, Beacon, NY.jpg
| image_size            = 300px
| caption               = West elevation and south profile of St. Luke's, 2008
| map_type              = 
| map_size              = 
| map_caption           = 
| location              = [[Beacon, New York|Beacon]], [[New York (state)|NY]], United States
| geo                   = {{Coord|41|29|50|N|73|57|48|W}}
| latitude              = 
| longitude             = 
| religious_affiliation = [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America]]
| rite                  = 
| region                = 
| state                 = 
| province              = 
| territory             = 
| prefecture            = 
| sector                = 
| district              = 
| cercle                = 
| municipality          = 
| consecration_year     = 1879<ref name="NRHP nom">{{cite web|last=Krattinger|first=William|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, St. Luke's Episcopal Church Complex|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=102425|publisher=[[New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation]]|date=January 2008|accessdate=2008-12-10}}</ref>
| status                = 
| functional_status     = 
| heritage_designation  = 
| leadership            = The Rev. Dr. Edwin H. Cromey ([[vicar]])
| website               = [http://www.stlukesbeacon.dioceseny.org/ St. Luke's Episcopal Church - Beacon, NY]
| architecture          = yes
| architect             = [[Frederick Clarke Withers]]<ref name="NRHP nom" />
| architecture_type     = church
| architecture_style    = [[Gothic Revival]]
| general_contractor    = William Harloe<ref name="NRHP nom" />
| facade_direction      = west
| groundbreaking        = 1868
| year_completed        = 1870
| construction_cost     = $60,000<ref name="NRHP nom" />
| specifications        = yes
| capacity              = 
| length                = 
| width                 = 
| width_nave            = {{convert|29.5|ft|m}}<ref name="NRHP nom" />
| height_max            = 
| dome_quantity         = 
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| dome_dia_outer        = 
| dome_dia_inner        = 
| minaret_quantity      = 
| minaret_height        = 
| spire_quantity        = 
| spire_height          = 
| materials             = [[Bluestone]], [[sandstone]]
| nrhp                  = yes
| added                 = May 30, 2008
| refnum                = 08000517<ref name="focus">{{Cite web |url=http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov |title=NPS Focus |work=National Register of Historic Places |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |accessdate=September 7, 2011}}</ref>
| designated            = 
}}
'''St. Luke's Episcopal Church''' is located in [[Beacon, New York|Beacon]], New York, United States. The church complex of four buildings and a [[cemetery]] takes up a {{convert|12|acre|ha|adj=on}} parcel between Wolcott ([[New York State Route 9D|NY 9D]]), Rector, Phillips and Union Streets. It was founded in 1832 as a religious school that soon became St. Anna's Church of Fishkill Landing.

The church and rectory were built from 1868 to 1870 from a design by [[Frederick Clarke Withers]], who later on considered the former one of his best buildings. The [[Gothic Revival]]-[[architectural style|styled]] building strongly reflects contemporary [[Cambridge Camden Society|Ecclesiological]] theories of appropriate church architecture. Despite some modifications and restoration, the buildings and grounds have remained largely as they were when first built. The church was listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2008 as "St. Luke's Episcopal Church Complex".

==Church complex==

Withers' original design included the church and its [[rectory]], on the corner of Wolcott and Rector. A Parish House was added near the end of the 19th century. It was added to, and a garage built, in the mid-20th. The church buildings and cemetery were laid out by [[Henry Winthrop Sargent]].<ref name="NRHP nom" />

===Church===

St. Luke's is a one-and-half-story asymmetrical [[cruciform]] building faced in [[Schenectady, New York|Schenectady]] [[bluestone]] in an [[ashlar]] pattern with Ohio [[sandstone]] trim. It is over a hundred feet (30 m) in length and 60 feet (20 m) wide. Two [[porch]]es extend from the south profile, a main entrance in the middle of the [[nave]] and a secondary one in the [[transept]]. There is another porch, pent-roofed, on the north transept. An organ and robing room is attached to the north side of the chancel.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

The [[gable]]d roof is covered in a variety of materials, mostly [[cement]]-[[asbestos]] [[roof shingle|shingles]], with some areas of [[slate]] and metal. A [[framing (construction)|frame]] [[bell cote]] topped with [[cast iron]] [[Christian cross|cross]] rises from the west end. The roofline is further pierced by a stone [[chimney]] on the north transept and several English Decorated Gothic stone crosses at junctions on the east end. All windows are either [[lancet window|lancet]] or round-[[arch]]ed, with some having additional [[trefoil]]s. The [[stained glass]] was done by [[Louis Comfort Tiffany]]'s firm and the British glaziers Bell & Almond. Above the main entrance is a [[bronze]] lamp with a stone medallion of a bull, the symbol of [[St. Luke]].<ref name="NRHP nom" />

The interior walls are [[plaster]] applied over an interior brick face, with vertical [[Rigid panel|beadboard]] and [[molding (decorative)|molded]] chair rail complemented by a similar [[cornice]] at the joint between the walls and ceiling. The slip pews are made of [[oak]] with tre- and [[quatrefoil]] carvings at the ends. The floors in the center and side [[aisle]]s are laid in a [[polychrome]] glass pattern, with carpet covering the area under the pews. There is a [[brass]] [[commemorative plaque|dedication plaque]] on the west wall.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

Open [[wood staining|stained]] [[pine]] [[truss]]es spring from [[corbel]]s along the walls frame the ceiling. They are complemented by sandstone at the arches between the building sections and surrounding the windows and doors. The nave is lit by hanging lamps. In the chancel the [[bishop's throne]], [[sedilia]], prayer desk and stalls are all oak like the pews. The [[Baptismal font|font]] is of Aubigny stone on a sandstone shaft.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

Below the church is its basement. It remains largely unfinished, as it was when the church was built, and unused.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

===Rectory===

The [[rectory]] was part of Withers' original design, and built along with the church. It is a likewise asymmetrical two-and-a-half-story structure of bluestone walls with brick trim, rebuilt to its original plan after a [[structure fire|fire]]. The south-facing front features a gable and tower; the east elevation has a double gable. The west elevation has a single gabled [[dormer window]] with [[half-timber]]ing. The roof is shingled in [[Bitumen|asphalt]].<ref name="NRHP nom" />
[[File:St. Luke's Episcopal Rectory Beacon NY 2.jpg|thumb|325x325px|Front elevation, rectory]]
Inside, the house's decor reflects later Victorian stylings, due to the era in which it was rebuilt. The walls are [[Lath and plaster|plaster on lath]]; the floorboards are thin oak. The [[woodworking|woodwork]], particularly the [[Fireplace mantel|mantel]]s, use [[Eastlake Movement|Eastlake]] decorative motifs. In the hallway next to the main staircase is the church's [[safe]]. The basement is, like the church's, unfinished.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

===Other outbuildings===

The Parish House on Rector Street is a [[Romanesque Revival]] building with a large modern frame addition. A [[fireplace]] within it retains a cast-iron decorative plate from the rectory at the church's earlier location in downtown Beacon. Due to the additions, it is not considered a [[contributing property]] to the church's overall historic character.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

The only other building on the property is the [[Garage (house)|garage]]. It is a modern structure made of [[concrete block]]s, and is also a non-contributing resource.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

===Cemetery and landscaping===

While it is level at the southeast corner where the church buildings are, the grounds become gently undulating to the north. Sargent planted [[specimen (biology)|specimen]] trees along the edges, many of which survive. They mostly follow an irregular pattern, except for those that border a path to the church's north porch. The gravestones date from the mid-19th century to the present and include a variety of styles of [[funerary art]]. Two notable examples are a [[brownstone]] marker with a [[crocket]]ed [[pinnacle]] whose date and decedent cannot be determined, and the [[neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] monument of Isaac Van Nostrand, with a base, [[plinth]] and [[fluting (architecture)|fluted]] Roman [[Doric order|Doric]] column.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

===Aesthetics===

Sargent and Withers were both devout Episcopalians, and followers of the contemporary [[Cambridge Camden Society#The Ecclesiologist|Ecclesiological]] movement in church design that advocated the Gothic Revival style of rural English parish churches, similar to the work of [[Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin|A.W. Pugin]], as the best form for an Anglican or Episcopal church. Withers, already having been exposed to this in his native England, had professed his allegiance to Ecclesiological principles in an 1858 essay, "A Few Hints on Church Building". His brief work with [[Andrew Jackson Downing]] and fellow [[English American|English immigrant]] [[Calvert Vaux]] prior to the former's death had further strengthened his appreciation for the Picturesque mode of the Gothic Revival<ref name="NRHP nom" />

Withers' design strongly reflects Downing's ideals of church design, of a building that harmonizes with the surrounding natural landscape. Several features, such as the broad nave, full transept, deep chancel, large south porch and frame bell cote, are exactly as prescribed by Ecclesiological writers. He involved himself in many of the church's minor details, even designing the [[altar cloth]] himself. In his 1873 book ''Church Architecture'', he devoted a great deal of text and an illustration to St. Luke's, suggesting he was very proud of how it turned out.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

The Rectory likewise reflects Withers' less conservative visions of domestic architecture on a smaller scale than his usual work, with its irregular and asymmetrical roofline and alternation of brick and stone. Its original tower, destroyed and not rebuilt after a later fire, enhanced its Gothic qualities with a steeply [[roof pitch|pitched]] roof.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

Sargent's landscape was one of the rare times he and Withers worked together on a property. Its most notable Picturesque feature is the irregular placement of its trees apart from those that border the path from the church and the streets surrounding the plot.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

==History==

Since before the [[American Revolution|Revolution]] [[Fishkill, New York|Fishkill]]<!--is that correct?-->'s Trinity Church had been the only Episcopal house of worship in southeastern [[Dutchess County, New York|Dutchess County]]. It was not easily accessible to residents of the hamlets of Matteawan and Fishkill Landing, today's Beacon. So, in 1832, three local sisters began offering religious instruction to children at their house, today's [[Madam Brett Homestead]]. Their parents and other adults met in a [[dry goods]] store, and by the end of the year the group had reached the size where it could form a [[parish]] of its own. In 1833 it formally [[Incorporation (business)|incorporated]] as [[Saint Anne|St. Anna's]], and the next year built a small brick church with columned portico at what is now the intersection of Main Street and Tioronda Avenue on donated land.<ref name="church history">{{Cite web|title=Brief history of the parish|url=http://www.stlukesbeacon.dioceseny.org/history.htm|publisher=St. Luke's Episcopal Church|date=2000–2007|accessdate=2008-12-15}}</ref>

In the following decades, Tioronda became the railroad's [[Right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]], making it a less desirable location. The church became neglected in turn. So the congregation decided in 1863 to build a new church elsewhere. One congregant, Charles Wolcott, gave six acres next to the church's then-cemetery. In 1866 he added the adjacent land of equal size then used as a cemetery by a local [[Presbyterian]] church.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

The [[deed]] stipulated that a religious edifice of at least $20,000 in value (${{Formatprice|{{Inflation|US|20000|1866}}|-2}} inflation adjusted 1866 value) had to be built on the property within three years of its [[Conveyancing|conveyance]] to the church. To raise the money, the church sold both its old church and rectory.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

Withers, who had already built the [[Reformed Church of Beacon|Reformed Dutch Church of Fishkill Landing]] in the future city and the [[Eustatia]] home of John Monell, one of St. Anna's [[vestryman|vestrymen]], was easily recruited to design the new church and rectory due to his devout Episcopalianism and relationships with members of the church. Sargent was, at the time of St. Luke's construction, also a vestryman.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

Ground was broken in 1868, and the church officially became St. Luke's Church of Matteawan and the first service was held the following year. The other buildings included the rectory and a small frame schoolhouse where the Parish House now stands. The total construction cost came to $60,000 (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|60000|1868|r=-4}}}} in 2008 dollars{{Inflation-fn|US}}). This debt took a while to retire, and as a result the church was not formally [[consecration|consecrated]] until 1879.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

In 1887, [[structure fire|fire]] severely damaged the rectory. The outside was salvaged, but the interior had to be rebuilt. The original floor plan was recreated, but some more contemporary decor was added.<ref name="NRHP nom" />

Five years later, in 1892, the church decided to demolish the original schoolhouse and replace it with the Parish House. The building was supposed to be cross-shaped, but that design could not be completed as there was not enough money to complete its construction. The addition of the Great Hall in the 1950s finally completed the original design. During that period, the church building itself also got a new heating system, carpet for the floor under the pews, and the current roof tiles.<ref name="church history" />

==The church today==

In 2018 St. Luke's merged with St. Andrew's Church, Beacon and both churches became one Parish; St. Andrew and St. Luke Episcopal Church, Beacon NY. The parish continues its worship and ministries, including the food pantry program, and maintains both former church campuses.

==See also==
{{Portal|Hudson Valley}}
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Dutchess County, New York]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://stlukesbeacon.org/ Church website]
{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Luke's Episcopal Church, Beacon, New York}}
[[Category:Episcopal church buildings in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Gothic Revival church buildings in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Religious organizations established in 1832]]
[[Category:Churches completed in 1869]]
[[Category:19th-century Episcopal church buildings]]
[[Category:Beacon, New York]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Dutchess County, New York]]
[[Category:Churches in Dutchess County, New York]]
[[Category:1832 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Frederick Clarke Withers buildings]]