Old Dutch Church - Sleepy Hollow, NY - This Old Church on Waymarking.com

In Sleepy Hollow, along U.S. Route 9, is the Old Dutch Church, which is the oldest standing church in the state of New York.

The church is set on a hill on the east side of the road, just north of a road intersection and just south of the main entrance to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. Parking is available at the south entrance to the cemetery, which is also the entrance to the church's cemetery.

The church is a stone structure with a shingled peaked roof and a short bell tower. Two windows with a pointed arch are located on the sides. A single door is at the front. Inside, the church has a small waiting area, then the main inside. The inside walls were painted white and blue. The pews were wooden, and the pulpit was wooden, with a staircase leading up to it. At the time, the church was being prepared for a wedding. The caretaker was there and answered questions while he prepared.

A web site by the Friends of the Old Dutch Church that maintain the building states that the pulpit and sounding board are exact duplicates of the original. The sounding board, the suspended feature above the pulpit, reflected the sound from the preacher to the people attending the service. There is also a communion table by the pulpit. The church also has a bell original to the church - with 1695 inscribed on it and still used in the belfry.

According the church legend, Frederick Philipse built a gristmill on the Pocantico River in 1683. It is said that a slave of his had a reoccurring dream that if Philipse finished building the church instead of repairing his dam after each flood, that the dam would be preserved. Whether true or not, the next time the dam was repaired was after the mill was in use. The church was mentioned in an entry in General George Washington's diary, and it was also made famous in Washington Irving's tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" as the old church that is by the bridge. The church has been listed on the National Register of Historic Landmarks in 1963.

The church is open for tours, generally on the weekends in the summer. I didn't see specific hours posted, so I couldn't enter them below. There are no year-round services held there. However, the Reformed Church of the Tarrytowns - the descendent religious body to the one that built this church - holds summer services from mid-June to Labor Day and Christmas Eve and Easter here.

Date the Church was built, dedicated or cornerstone laid: 01/01/1685 Age of Church building determined by?: Church website If denomination of Church is not part of the name, please provide it here: Dutch Reformed Street address of Church: U.S. Route 9 Sleepy Hollow, NY United States of America 10591 Primary website for Church or Historic Church Building: [Web Link] If Church is open to the public, please indicate hours: Not listed If Church holds a weekly worship service and "all are welcome", please give the day of the week: Not listed Indicate the time that the primary worship service is held. List only one: Not Listed Secondary Website for Church or Historic Church Building: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   02/11/2022 chrissyml visited it 11/14/2017 horselady9 visited it

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