Gothic Revival

St. Mary’s of the Snow Catholic Church // 1833

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In 1830 Rev. Philip O’Reilly was sent by Bishop John Dubois to establish missions and build churches along the Hudson River wherever there were sufficient resident Catholics. O’Reilly visited the village of Saugerties, in Ulster County in 1832 and began holding services in private homes. The area was home to many Irish residents working in industry, a large number of which were Catholics, and as a result, the village here became the location of the first Catholic church in the county. Father O’Reilly founded St. Mary’s in 1833 creating the first parish of the Hudson, spanning New York City to Albany, with the cornerstone of the new church laid that same year; though, the church would be dedicated a decade later. The church cemetery grew from the first graves around the church in 1833 to fill much of the church property now occupied setting the Gothic edifice in a sea of gravestones. The church grew and eventually the steeple was added in the 1860s. It is also said that the church basement was used as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The church (like many in the United States) has struggled to maintain its large campus, which originally contained the church, a school, and convent, but the church remains in good condition, shining like a beacon on a hill on the Hudson.

St. John’s Episcopal Church, Highgate // 1831

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St. John’s Episcopal Church stands in a grove of pine trees at the southeastern end of the Highgate Falls village green in Highgate, Vermont. The church is built in a transitional style which combines the pointed arches of Gothic architecture with a unique Gothic-Palladian window, but with a traditional plan and massing commonly found in Federal style churches in New England. The church was built between 1831-1833 by Joel Whitney of nearby Enosburg, and was consecrated on May 21, 1834, by Rev. John Henry Hopkins, the first Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont. The congregation was a full parish until 1896 and maintenance has since struggled due to dwindling use. The wooden steeple was removed in the late 20th century, but the church stands as an important architectural landmark for the small town.

Derby Cottage // c.1848

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Located off Touro Park in Newport, you may be surprised to find an early Gothic Revival style cottage obscured from view by the towering stone Channing Memorial Church. Newport has so many hidden treasures! Very little is written about this cottage, but it appears to have been built c.1848 for Richard Crowninshield Derby (1777-1854) of the famous Derby Family of Salem, Massachusetts. Richard Derby would move to Philadelphia and split his time between there, Boston, and his newly built summer cottage in Newport, Rhode Island. He did not get to fully appreciate the home as he died in 1854. The Gothic Revival cottage was inherited by his widow, Louisa S. Bomford Derby until her death and later by the couple’s two children (from both of their first marriages), Richard Catton Derby and Louisa Lincoln Lear Eyre, the mother of famed architect Wilson Eyre. The property was eventually sold by the half-siblings and the site became home to the 1880 Channing Memorial Church, which now dominates the site. Luckily for us, the cottage was spared and moved to the extreme rear of the lot and converted to the parish hall for the church.

Head Tide Church // 1838

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In the early 19th century, Head Tide was a bustling village within the Town of Alna, Maine, supported by mills at the dam, agriculture and apple orchards, boat building, fishing and forestry. As Head Tide grew in population, village leaders determined to build their own Congregational church so they would not have to travel the three miles to the 1789 Meeting House in Alna Center. The Head Tide Church in Alna, Maine was dedicated in November 1838 and sits on a hill overlooking the village. The Head Tide Church is a handsome rural Maine house of worship which exhibits a combination of Federal style, Greek Revival, and Gothic Revival elements in its design. The facade displays the outline of a Grecian temple front with its six pilasters and strongly accented triangular pediment. The Federal fan motif appears above the two facade windows as well as in the center of the pediment and the Gothic Revival influence is felt in the two pointed arch windows on either side of the church and in the simple pinnacle at the top of each corner of the belfry. The church is a high-style building for the rural Maine village and is kept very well by the community. The congregation disbanded, but the church remains an important part of the town and is rented for memorial services, events, weddings.

Weare Town House // 1837

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Weare, New Hampshire has a pretty cool history. Located at the northern edge of Hillsborough County, the land presently known as Weare was granted to veterans of the Canadian wars in 1735 by Governor Jonathan Belcher, who named it “Beverly-Canada” after many of the veteran’s hometown, Beverly, Massachusetts. After various disputes over the settlement and naming of the town, it became known as “Weare’s Town” before being incorporated by Governor Benning Wentworth in 1764 as Weare, after Meshech Weare, who served as the town’s first clerk and later went on to become New Hampshire’s first Governor. The town grew slowly during the 18th and 19th centuries around five major villages, with farmland and forests connecting them. Near the geographic center of town, this Town House was built in 1837 to be a government and religious center of the town. Originally, town meetings were held on the first floor and the Universalist Church met on the second floor and the local high school was installed on the second floor in 1919. The building remains the town offices with event space for rent inside today. The building is a great example of a vernacular Greek/Gothic Revival town house of the period with a two-stage tower with pinnacles at the corners of each stage and a louvered belfry at the bell.

Yale University – Alumni Hall // 1851-1911

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Alumni Hall at Yale was designed and built between 1851-1853, at the northwest corner of Yale’s Old Campus. Its was designed by Gothic specialist architect Alexander Jackson Davis, who completed Dwight Hall (the Old Library) a some years prior. The building had a large, open floorplan on the first floor for large gatherings as well as the entrance examinations, along with the biennial examinations that every student had to take at the end of his sophomore and senior years. As the building turned 50 years old, the campus around it was already looking very different. Shifting priorities for dormitory space in the yard necessitated its demolition for Wright Hall (next post). Alumni Hall was razed in 1911, but its two crenelated towers were salvaged when the building was demolished. They were incorporated into Weir Hall which has been incorporated into Jonathan Edwards College, one of Yale’s residential colleges.

Yale University – Dwight Hall // 1842

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One of the most architecturally significant college buildings in the United States, Dwight Hall was designed to house the growing book collection of Yale College as its library. The former Yale College Library, now Dwight Hall, represents a significant shift in Yale’s campus architecture from Georgian and Federal brick buildings to the Gothic mode which the campus is largely known for today. Dwight Hall was designed by local architect Henry Austin with the guidance of esteemed architects Ithiel Town and Alexander Jackson Davis, both experts in early high-style Gothic buildings in America. The design, to me, resembles the 1443 King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, England. The structure is constructed of brownstone from Portland, Connecticut, and it is composed of a central block with two smaller flanking wings on either side connected by smaller linking spaces. At the yard facade, two octagonal towers with domed copper roofs rise, flanking a large, pointed lancet arch window that extends above the doorway. The library was outgrown fairly quickly, necessitating an annex next door and eventually collections were transferred to Sterling Memorial Library in 1930, the Old Library was converted to a chapel and community service building and is known as Dwight Hall.

Dixmont Corner Church // 1834

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Dixmont, a small rural town in central Maine was originally originally a land grant by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (of which Maine was then a part) to Bowdoin College, which sold the first settlers their land for profit to build on their campus. As a result, the town was originally called “Collegetown”, which was obviously short-lived. Dr. Elijah Dix (1747-1809) of Boston, who never lived there but took an interest in its settlement, encouraged others to settle there, and when the town was officially incorporated in 1807, it named itself after Dix, as Dixmont. A “malignant fever” broke out among the settlers in the early years, also killing Elijah Dix while in Dixmont on a trip there in 1809, he was buried in the Dixmont Corner Cemetery. Elijah was the grandfather of reformer and nurse Dorothea Dix. The early settlers had this church built by 1834 by Rowland Tyler, a local master builder whose only other documented work is the 1812 City Hall of Bangor. The Dixmont Corner Church is one of Penobscot County’s oldest Gothic churches and also exhibits some Greek/Classical elements.

Troy Meeting House // 1840

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Located in the rural town of Troy, Maine, the 1840 Troy Meeting House is a classic example of a type of meeting house or church that was built by some rural communities in the state in the decades prior to the Civil War. Built as a Union Church, without a specific denomination, the building served the members of the Troy Meeting House Society, and by extension as the only church in the town. The building features both Greek Revival and Gothic Revival stylistic details on the exterior and its design is similar to others in the surrounding towns, likely being from the same builder.

Westover School // 1909

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At the heart of the rural community of Middlebury, comprised largely of Connecticut farmers, far from the hustle and bustle of the world, Mary Robbins Hillard (1862-1932) sought to create a girls school to “provide young women with a liberal education in a community which would contribute to the development of their character, independence and sense of responsibility.” To accomplish this, they needed a school, and Mary hired her good friend (and architect) Theodate Pope Riddle to design the private girl’s school campus and main buildings on a site fronting the town green. The school opened in 1909 with125 pupils, slightly over capacity. For the design Theodate Pope Riddle – who was one of the first American women architects and a survivor of the sinking of the RMS Lusitania – took inspiration from English Arts and Crafts and historical precedence in English schools with large open courtyard plans. Originally finished in a gray stucco, the building enclosed a quadrangle at the rear. Inside, administration offices, reception rooms, living rooms, a library, gymnasium, chapel, dining rooms, infirmary, and (of course) classrooms lined the interiors on a closed loop to allow students and teachers access to all parts of the building without ever stepping outside in the cold New England winters. The Westover School remains active and one of the highest ranked private schools in the area today, and with a more cheery yellow coat!

David Bradley House // c.1803

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According to a dated board in the attic, this house was built c.1803! The David Bradley House on Old South Road in Southport, Connecticut is a great example of a traditionally designed house that does not need all the bells and whistles to stand out! The house was owned for a number of years by David Bradley, who worked as the village’s postmaster. It was David who likely added the Gothic Revival gable with lancet window and a (since removed) front porch.

Trinity Parish Chapel, Southport // 1872

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The Trinity Episcopal Church in the Southport section of Fairfield, Connecticut was established in 1725. As the parish and town grew, a large and architecturally stunning church was erected in 1862, and housed services for some of the wealthiest and well-connected residents of Connecticut. During Rev. Edward Wells’ rectorship, it was decided that a parish school was needed, and as an ardent believer in religious training, he started planning for a new chapel for use as a school. The Trinity Parish Chapel was designed by Southport architects Disbrow & Taylor and erected 1871-72. This Gothic Revival building is an excellent example of the rural church architecture which enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the country during the mid 19th century. Designed on a simple rectangular and decorative wooden bell cote, the small chapel’s board-and-batten siding and modest though strong Gothic details create a composition which compliments the more grand church just steps away. The chapel was originally built as a free-standing building, but was connected by a large, brick addition in the 20th century.

Former West Acton Universalist Church // 1868

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This beautiful church in Acton, Massachusetts was built in 1868 by the Universalists of West Acton who sought a house of worship closer to their homes, rather than taking horses to the other part of town every week. The building exemplifies the influence of both Gothic Revival and Italianate styles on rural churches of the time. Gothic elements include the double pointed lancet windows with quatrefoil ornament, buttresses, and pointed lancet panels on the tower and belfry. Italianate elements include the rusticated base and the corbel table at the eaves. Religious services ceased in 1925. At that time, the church building was bought by leading men in the village who gave the building to the West Acton Women’s Club, which began in 1890 by Lucy Mead (the wife of Oliver Mead, who built the Mansard home nearby). In the 1950’s, the church was used as a community center. It is now home to a local performing arts center, Theatre III Box Office.

Litchfield Community Presbyterian Church // 1844

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Litchfield, New Hampshire remained a rural agricultural town on the eastern banks of the Merrimack River from its founding by white settlers until after WWII when it rapidly became a bedroom community for nearby NH cities and Boston. The area’s Presbyterian residents needed a place to worship, separate from the more common congregationalists, and they built this Gothic and Greek Revival style church near the geographic center of town, a stone’s throw from the Merrimack River. The building features lancet windows, tracery, and a two-tiered belfry with classical pilasters and Gothic finials at the tower.

Horatio Harris Villa // 1857

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Not much remains of one of Roxbury’s once grand rural estates, but as there is some left, I want to feature it before it’s all gone, possibly any day now! Horatio Harris was born in Dorchester (present-day South Boston) in 1821 and ran a prominent auction house in Boston. He built his country estate in Roxbury beginning in 1857 in the Gothic Revival style, adding on and updating numerous times. During the Civil War, the firm of Horatio Harris & Co. obtained the contract to sell at auction all goods which were confiscated by the United States’ land or naval forces and brought to Boston. He made a lot of money and added to his land holdings and estate house in Roxbury. The mansion’s construction was timely as Roxbury was transitioning from a rural town, with farms and country estates of wealthy Boston merchants, to a streetcar suburb, increasing the land value of his holdings. The estate included nearly 30 acres of meandering paths, a lake with an island, outbuildings, and an observation tower – one of which remain today besides the ruin of the former mansion. Horatio died in 1876, in the decades following his death, his heirs began subdividing the estate, developing some and selling other plots off for houselots. By the early 1900s, Jewish people began moving into Roxbury, mixing with the predominantly Yankee population. By 1915, the Harris manor house was owned by the Hebrew Alliance of Roxbury, Inc. By the 1920s, they expanded facilities, adding a school building to the front of the former Harris Mansion, completely obscuring the facade of the old estate. In the 1940s, the upper stories were removed. Seemingly the death knell of the old Harris Villa was a fire in 2019, which gutted much of the remaining original fabric of the estate. All that remains is a bay window, some window trim details and a Gothic porte-cochere at the rear of the estate. See it before it’s too late!