St. Peter's Episcopal Church

The St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, which is located in Peekskill, New York, is a fine example of the Gothic Revival Style. The Church was designed by Richard M. Upjohn Jr. (1828-1903) and was completed in 1891. Upjohn Jr. was a noted church architect who designed in the English Gothic style that was popular at the end of the 19th century. Some typical elements of these designs included stone construction, Gothic arches, an offset tower, and an exposed truss interior.

The St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Peekskill is located upon the site of a wooden church that was built in 1838. That church was in use until 1890, when it was replaced with the current St. Peter’s Church. In 1889, the members of the congregation voted to have New York architect Richard Mitchell Upjohn (1828-1903), design the new church.

Upjohn Jr. started his work at a young age working with his father Richard Upjohn (1802-1878). Together they worked on many religious commissions, which included Trinity Church in New York City in 1846. Richard M. Upjohn Jr. would continue to independently design his own commissions throughout the country after working with his father. Some of his most famous works included the nearby Presbyterian Church (1872), Manse of Rye, and his most noted design, the Connecticut State Capitol building in Hartford, that was completed in 1885. Upjohn Jr.’s son, Hobart B. Upjohn (1876-1949), who was raised in Westchester, New York, was the third generation to work in architecture and was the second generation to have worked for the St. Peter’s congregation.

The church has seen multiple additions and remodeling’s since Richard Mitchell Upjohn Jr.’s passing. In 1905 the church made an addition of a tower and a lychgate (roofed gateway to a churchyard, formerly used during burials for sheltering a coffin until the clergyman's arrival.) The lychgate and bell tower are connected to the church by a short enclosed breezeway. The bell tower is sixteen square feet and sixty feet high. In addition, the church did remodeling of the interior in 1934, and in 1964 they made an addition to the church hall at the south gable end.

The St. Peter’s Episcopal Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. The church is still open and in use today.

1. Shaver, Peter D.. St. Peter's Episcopal Church. National Register of Historic Places. Published April 11th 2003.
2. Reudger, Richard N. The Founding Of Saint Peter's Church At Van Cortlandtville, And A Sketch of the Subsequent History Of The Parish in Peekskill, 1767-1967.
3. St. Peter's Episcopal: Home, St. Peter's Peekskill. Accessed May 2nd 2021. https://www.stpeterspeekskill.org/.