Mount Zion Methodist Church (Somers, New York)

41.302222222222 - 73.714444444444Koordinaten: 41 ° 18 ' 8 " N, 73 ° 42' 52 " W

Mount Zion Methodist Church is a church building on Primrose Avenue (NY 139) in Somers, New York in the United States. It is a white -clad with shingles building, which was built in the late 18th century and extensively renovated in 1860. In 1970 the building was severely vandaliert.

It is the oldest church building in Somers and significant for the development of the Methodist Episcopal Church in New York as the dominant church in the north of Westchester County during a long period of its history. The community is since the end of the 19th century no longer function, and both the building and the associated cemetery are in urban property. In 1990 the church was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Estate

The church building is located on a 1.4 acre ( 2,800 square meters) full plot at the Ostseit of Primrose Avenue, south of Rice Park, on a small hill that raises it above the street, towards the south slopes slightly at the site. The building is surrounded on three sides by a cemetery. All property boundaries are marked by stone walls.

Church building

In the church there is a comprehensive two and a half storeys timber-frame building with a gable roof on a slightly exempted establishment. The approximately 9 to 12 m high building is not decorated and also has no steeple on; only a small brick brick chimney rises at the northern end. The roof is verschindelt with tar paper and has an overhanging roof eaves, corner board which is complemented by a plain frieze and.

In all three bays sit in two full floors at the east and west side of each double hung Aufschiebefenster with twelve over twelve windows. Are located on north and south sides only two windows on each floor and one each on the tympanum. The main entrance in the center of the south facade is formed by a double door, which is surrounded by a patch architrave.

From the entrance, leads a narrow vestibule in the central hall, where two narrow stairs lead up to the gallery. Outside of the vestibule, the floor is unpainted pine wood. The walls are paneled on the ground floor connected by tongue and groove wooden boards, and on the first floor, the walls are plastered.

There are three rows of pews on the ground floor, all facing forward, show with the exception of those benches on either side of the pulpit, to the center. The pulpit itself is a wooden platform with a lectern flanked by columns. There is a sofa made ​​of mahogany and horsehair on the wall. A wooden communion railing with balusters runs over the front and turns slightly on the sides. Cast iron stoves with protruding tubes are located at the southern end of the Kirchehnschiffs.

The gallery has a floor with wide overlapping pine boards. The three rows of pews are all aligned to the pulpit. A generator operated with kerosene chandelier hangs from the ceiling.

Cemetery

The graves in the cemetery are all close together and are well maintained. They date from the period 1793-1959 and reflect the architectural trends of their time resist. The oldest of eleven tombs arose before 1816 brownstone and have arches with flanking finials. With the exception of an urn on one of the graves cemetery art hardly exists.

Grave stones of marble are typical of the period from 1812 until 1908. These can be divided into three groups. In this case, the largest group with graves from the period 1812 to 1929 mostly simple stones on which inscriptions are made in block letters. In the period 1819-1863 a more classical form was preferred, with urn and willow motif and cursive inscriptions. A small group from the time of the Civil War includes the most ornate tombs of the cemetery. A grave of a Union soldier is decorated with a cannon.

When most of the graves from the 20th century has replaced the marble granite as the preferred material. Many are solid and have the shape of pyramids and columns. There are three family grave sites within the cemetery, one of them is divided only by its original fence posts.

History

Methodism had reached America before the American Revolution and developed during and after their gone. Prior to founding churches, the preachers of the denomination traveled around and visited the cities in which they had gained followers. These districts (circuit ) were finally adopted by the church as a formal organizational structure.

1787 New Rochelle Circuit was founded by Bishop Francis Asbury to transfer formally from Freeborn Garrettson. In 1794, the church was built in Somers, it was the first church in the city at all and the fifth of seven Methodist church buildings in New Rochelle Circuit.

All these buildings were intentionally built as simple as possible in order to save costs. Moreover, this was in line with the philosophy of the Methodists, as this seceded from England. Asbury had declared that all Methodist churches are supposed to be " simple and decent, but no more expensive than absolutely incompatible ". Many of these church buildings were simple white wood frame, as well as Mt Zion in Somers and reminded more of houses or barns, because churches. Only their large windows and the influence of the Federal-style pointed to the use as a church. Of the original seven churches of the district only Mt Zion and Bethel Chapel have received the majority of their original form and features in today's Croton-on- Hudson.

As Methodism grew in popularity, so did the churches. The districts were redefined, and Mt Zion in 1803 the Croton Circuit and 1809 the Cortlandt Circuit. In the latter position, the church was the main church for the surrounding community. This lasted until the 1840s, when the more Western churches in Shrub Oak and Peekskill got their own church district. 1860 the church building was extensively renovated, and some decorations in the classical style were added. In addition, the pulpit and the gallery have been added.

Mt Zion's regional influence on the churches in rural villages north and east of Somers lasted until 1861, when the church district was dissolved. At that time the church became independent in Lewisboro and Mt Zion only served the local believers.

This, and the growth of towns along the Harlem Valley Railroad (now the Metro-North Harlem Line) initiated the decline of the church. She lived in the 1880s, thanks to some dedicated new pastors indeed a renaissance and won several hundred new members of the community, but the expansion of the water supply of New York City in the north of the Westchester County ended this recovery, because land was acquired to build water storage. Therefore, moved away many of the local farmers who had provided the lion's share of community members since its inception. The last regular service was held in 1897.

The church building came under the care of the Methodist church in nearby Katonah, which for a long time entertained the early 20th century and held once a year to worship. This ended in 1930, and the building began to fall. 1970, it was heavily vandalized, with the original organ of mahogany and the balusters were destroyed around the pulpit. The windows were smashed.

Three years later, the city bought the building from the Methodists, to prevent further incidents and to get it as a historic site. It is now maintained by the Somers Historical Society.

Documents

• Church building in New York
• Church building ( Methodist )
• Monument on the National Register of Historic Places (New York)
• Built in the 1790s
• Westchester County
• Zion Church