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The members of the St. Lukes Episcopal Church were organized in 1855 under the name St. Marks and worshiped at St. Matthew’s church in Bedford. It wasn't until 1888, that plans were made to build a church. The plans arose after the grandson of the chief of justice John Jay II passed away and left $500 for their building in Katonah. The original site of the church was abandoned in 1895 due to the construction of the Croton Dam for the New York City water supply. The congregation began meeting again in 1916, gathering at a meeting house and a storage building. In 1921, the town of Katonah asked St. Marks in Mount Kisco to adopt this church as a Parochial mission. After petition money was raised to buy the property and Hobart Upjohn was chosen as the architect, construction began in 1921. The first services were held in 1923.On May 17, 1994, St. Luke's separated from St. Marks and converted into an organized mission of the Diocese New York. The current parish house was built in 1959 by Mrs. Cassie Hoffman.The church was in the Tudor Revival style that was popular for residential designs and religious buildings in the 1920s. Characteristics of this early English style are the building's half-timbered walls and the use of diamond-paned windows.

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Built in 1921-1923 the St. Luke's Episcopal Church is an example of the Tudor Revival style that was popular in the United States during the 1920s. It was designed by Hobart B. Upjohn, a noted American church designer and son of architect Richard Upjohn. The location of this church at the fork between the two main streets of the village makes it a prominent landmark. On the front lawn is an enormous spruce which serves as the community Christmas tree every year.

St. Luke's Episcopal Church

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Katonah was uprooted from its original location in the 1890s. On April 7th, 1893 the New York City Commissioner of Public Works, Commissioner Michael T. Daly, brought about the destruction of the village due to the construction of the New Croton Dam.  The residents united under the Village Improvement Society to work out a plan for a new village and a process to move several building to a new location. Under the Katonah Land Company residents purchased 37 acres of land approximately 1-mile south of the village and hired landscape architects B.S. and G.S. Olmsted to design a plan for the new village.The Olmsted firm, noted landscape architects, drafted a pilot plan for the new Katonah Village in 1895. Their plan divided the village into a grid pattern with the use of wide roads. Some of these roads were divided by wide green spaces in the centers. The heart of the village was centered around the railroad station, where the new business district was located. Some of the buildings within the village predate the “new” village, such as the former Methodist Manse located on 8 Bedford Road. Now a private residence, this structure is a surviving example of the Queen Anne architectural style of the old village. Buildings like the 8 Bedford Road were either demolished or moved between 1893 and 1899. These buildings were moved on top of rolling timbers drawn by horses along lubricated pine tracks. In total, there were about ten buildings moved from the old village, including the rectory of St. Mary’s Church and the office of the First Presbyterian Church. These ten buildings date between 1840 and 1885.The remaining twenty-eight structures in the historic district were constructed between 1896 and 1910 with two exceptions: the public library built in 1930 and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in 1923. There are two prominent architectural styles reflected in the district: the Queen Anne Style and the later Shingle Style. However, there are exceptions, such as St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, which was built in the Tudor style.Over the years, the village continued to develop with the establishment of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in 1923 and the Katonah Library in 1930, but the construction of Route 684 to the east of the village in 1972 had the biggest impact in its expansion. Happily, Katonah’s broad streets remained relatively unchanged.

The Katonah Hamlet Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Sites in 1983. The district consists primarily of residential buildings, however, several churches and commercial buildings are also present within the district, such as Katonah’s First Presbyterian Church, the United Methodist Church of Katonah, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. Some of the 38 buildings within the historic district were originally in Old Katonah before the village was uprooted and moved during the 1890s due to the construction of the New Croton Dam.

The village of Katonah can be divided into two periods of history: before and after the construction of the New Croton Dam. Prior to this move, the area of Old Katonah consisted of two hamlets: Cherry Street and Whitlockville. Cherry Street was on the decline due to the growth of Whitlockville, which expanded downhill in order to create more businesses for the village. However, Whitlockville later faced decline because the New York and Harlem railroad bypassed the village. Despite this setback, the area’s economy shifted towards a dairy-based economy, as the railroad now allowed for milk to be transported rapidly to the city. The nightly milk train connected the local railroad stations to New York City, and businesses sprung up around it, including in Katonah. The birth of Old Katonah could be dated to July 22nd, 1852, when the post office along the railroad was transferred to the village. The railroad station, named Whitlockville Station at the time, became the hub of the Old Katonah village. Businesses and homes moved their locations to be nearby. It was a quiet village until some of its men would volunteer during the Civil War to serve the Co. G, 38th Regiment. However, the fate of the village came into question as early as 1875 when resident Ophelia Avery reported that civil engineers were stationed in the village doing surveys of the area. During the 1880s, the New York City Aqueduct Commission began planning to enlarge the Croton Reservoir and to construct a new dam, which would prove to be the end of Old Katonah.On April 7th, 1893, Commissioner Michael T. Daly ordered the destruction of Kirbyville, New Castle Corners, Old Katonah village and parts of Kensico.. In September that same year a letter of condemnation was sent to the village seeking the removal of at least 100 buildings. Since Katonah was a hamlet within the Town of Bedford at this time (and still is today), the village lacked an independent government to organize the transplant of Old Katonah and Whitlockville, so the task fell to the Village Improvement Society. This delegation needed to find a new site for the village. Many of the old buildings within the village went to auction and then demolition. Others were preserved and moved. However, the exodus was quite messy, as the original deadline for removal was changed two years forward to May 1895.Yet despite many conflicts, the village succeeded in moving to its new location which was quite an achievement.During the relocation during 1896 and 1898, the preserved buildings were either dismantled and reassembled at new locations, such as the St. Mary’s Church, or uprooted in their entirety and transported on timbers, such as the former manse of the United Methodist Church. The buildings moved by these timbers were connected by cables to horse-drawn capstans that were aligned along tracks of hard yellow pine. To ease friction, these pine tracks were lubricated with soap. Sometimes the tracks would shift in front of them, but by far the most impressive engineering feat of these long tedious moves was the construction of temporary bridges to cross the Croton River.The formation of the New Katonah village began with the purchase of 37 acres of farmland perpendicular to the railroad approximately 1-mile south of the old village. The land was purchased by the Katonah Land Company. This syndicate hired B.S. and G.S. Olmsted landscape architects to create the plan for the village. Italian workers were hired to level and grade the lands of the village for construction. Thanks to the landscaping talent of the Olmsted fim, the village was constructed with wide roads with parks running through the center of them. The new village had some ordinances enacted to foster orderly development; these were enforced through the enactment of restrictive covenants upon the deeds of the sold lands. These restrictions varied from the ban on noxious scents and the manufacturing of certain items (soap, candles, starch, glue, ink, or gunpowder), to the ban of slaughterhouses or tanneries, a ban on harboring pigs, poultry, or vicious dogs, and even the prohibition of alcohol within the village. Temperance was popular within the village due to alcohol use running relatively unchecked in the old village, thus some residents petitioned the syndicate to restrict its sale and manufacture in New Katonah. The first buildings in the new village were the Palmer Avenue School in 1893 which replaced the old school which had burned, and the Pioneer House built in 1895, which was the first house built in the new village.The first train arrived in the new village on April 5th, 1897. First Presbyterian Church and United Methodist Church constructed new houses of worship in the new village, while St. Mary’s reassembled its old house. Cemeteries were reinterred to new burial grounds. Events such as horse races and bicycle races were held in the village, and the first automobile was spotted in the village in 1899. Katonah was changing and growing; even the prospect of a National Bank in the village was explored. As a result of the move, the village survived and prospered, but its history was forever changed.

To quote local historian Gray Williams, Katonah was, “the village that wouldn’t drown.” The village uprooted from its original location and moved due to the construction of the New Croton Dam and the enlargement of the Croton Reservoir. The construction of the dam was needed to provide additional water for a growing New York City population. The village continues to survive today because its residents banded together to purchase land for a new village and ambitiously moved many of its original buildings.

Old Katonah

Prior to moving to its current location on 5 Bedford Road, the United Methodist Church of Katonah was named the Methodist Episcopal Church and was located on the Whitlockville-to-Cherry Street Road. This 1837 church was founded by two Methodist laymen from Peekskill, Thomas Miller and Abraham Ellis, leading an evangelizing congregation that attracted a following in the local community. The preaching of these two men began a local phenomenon dubbed “The Great Revival”, which on a national level is called "The Second Great Awakening" by American historians. Their sermons attracted two circuit preachers, Alonzo F. Silleck and George L. Fuller, whose outreach led to the conversion of 150 locals to the Methodist denomination.The church moved from Whitlockville Road to a new building across from Anderson Road. This building was located next to the Katonah Cemetery and was dedicated on January 21st, 1875. This new church served as their house of worship until 1900 when they moved to their current site. The minister at the time of the move was Thomas LaMonte, whose son, Thomas William LaMonte, drafted and carried out the plans for financial aid to Great Britain and France before the United States entered the World War I; he also served as a member of the American Commission to Negotiate Peace. He drafted the plans while he was employed by J.P. Morgan.Only 25 years after the move to their new home, the United Methodist congregation was forced to move again due to the construction of the New Croton Dam and Reservoir. The church, along with many of the buildings of Old Katonah, would have a choice between relocating or rebuilding. The church chose to erect a new building on 5 Bedford Road. Their new church organ was installed in February of 1900 and their church bells a month later.The United Methodist Church of Katonah also had a manse built in the Queen Anne style, however they chose not to move it to the new village. This manse, only about 15 years old at the time of the move, was purchased by a private owner and moved to the new village to where it resides today on 8 Bedford Road.The village of Katonah saw a post-war population boom after the Second World War and the Korean War. As a result, church attendance grew and in 1956 United Methodist constructed a new parish hall. Today the church remains an integral part of the Katonah community.

Built in 1900 with an aesthetic blend of the Romanesque Revival and the Shingle styles, the United Methodist Church is located in Katonah, NY. Designed by George Kramer, the church was built as a replacement of an older church erected in Old Katonah. United Methodist Church was constructed of locally sourced cobblestone with a slate roof capping four irregularly shaped bays on each façade of the building. The building itself has an octagonal-shaped interior, which is a break of tradition favored by Methodists. The exterior is dressed with gabled bargeboards that are supported by brackets, small windows in arched or rectangular configurations, and a square bell tower with arches at each of the three levels.

United Methodist Church of Katonah

The Presbyterian denomination has been present in Katonah since 1871. The original members of the church held their worship sessions on the third floor of Avery’s hardware store in Old Katonah before their house of worship was constructed. It was dedicated on December 21st, 1874 on Church Street in Old Katonah and served as the home of the Presbyterian congregation until 1891.During this time, the church’s first pastor was John Eastman, who served as pastor for 20 years. His tenure saw a growth of the church, with a manse being constructed on River Road in 1880, and a Sunday School in 1892.In 1891 that the village was forced to move in order to make way for the new Croton Dam which was constructed to provide water to New York City and the local area. The Presbyterian church was presented with a dilemma: move or dissolve. The congregation decided to move to its current site on 31 Bedford Road in the center of the new Katonah Village. Like many buildings from the old village, the manse was lifted from its original foundation and moved to a new site in 1898. The original church building was sold and scrapped.After the move the church had a quiet history, but additions were made over time. In 1950, a new manse on Edgemont Road was purchased, and the original manse became a school building for the church. An addition connecting the original manse and the church was designed and built by Bruce P. Helmes. Further renovations were done during the tenure of Reverend Bruce R. White, the twelfth pastor of the church. He would oversee renovations of the interior of the church in which the chancel was moved back and the ceiling of one of the church rooms was raised. In these renovations, the pews were replaced by chairs.

Located at 31 Bedford Road in Katonah, NY, the First Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1900. Designed by George Kramer, the church replaced an older church built in 1874 and demolished due to the creation of the Croton Reservoir. Designed in the Gothic Revival style, the church features wall and corner buttresses, lancet windows, and a square crenellated tower with louvered opening. The exterior is dressed with cut Brewster granite with a red slate roof.

First Presbyterian Church of Katonah

Like the Protestant congregations of Old Katonah, the Catholic congregation first began worship in a hall, not a church. They met in Green’s Hall of Old Katonah in 1867.  The impetus to build their own church began in 1889 when the rector of St. Joseph’s Parish in Croton Falls announced that Bishop Corrigan’s desired the construction of a Catholic church in Katonah. The fundraising campaign raised $1900 for the construction; $400 of this sum went towards the purchase of the land. On October 14th, 1890, St. Mary’s was dedicated. Soon after that construction of the church, it was moved to the New Katonah Village due to the construction of the New Croton Reservoir. Immediately after their move, the church acquired an 1860s Victorian Style house and moved it next to the church to serve as a rectory building.In 1921, St. Mary’s Church opened up a school on Valley Road for four grades. This school was known as St. Mary’s Grammar School and was dedicated by Archbishop Patrick J. Hayes. This school building has an interesting history because it previously served as a Knights of Columbus meeting hall for soldiers during the First World War, which was located in Longacre Square (now Times Square) in New York City. It was moved to its new site and remodeled to serve as a school. The school continued to expand over the years. In 1924 the Hawthorne House was acquired to serve as a convent for the Sisters of Divine Compassion, which staffed the school. That same year, an auditorium-gym was constructed, as well as high school classrooms. The school became the John F. Kennedy Catholic High School of Somers in 1967.In 1925, a quarter century after its move to New Katonah, St. Mary’s went under renovation to increase its seating capacity. The church expanded towards its rectory, incorporating its sacristy into the church itself. After the completion of the church’s expansion, the local press of Katonah commented that, “It speaks well for a town when a church has to be enlarged.”After World War II and the Korean War, Katonah Village experienced a population boom due in part to the construction of the Saw Mill River Road Parkway in 1956. As a result, St. Mary’s Parish, which included the church and St. Matthias’ Mission in Bedford Hills, added 300 families to its registrars between 1948 and 1958.With the designation of Katonah Village as a historic district in 1982, there were plans to demolish the old rectory building, but instead, a new rectory was constructed and the original was renovated for the Archdiocesan Bicentennial Project.

First constructed in 1890, St. Mary’s Church in Katonah was one of the later buildings to be moved from Old Katonah to New Katonah. Unlike many other buildings which were moved intact, the church was dismantled and reconstructed on its new site in 1901. Designed in the Gothic style, the church is two stories high on its northeastern façade, five bays wide and five deep. Attached to the church is a three-story bell tower in a square shape with a bell cast roof at its north west corner. A large lancet window adorns the main façade, ogee-arched stained glass windows are on the sides and rectangular windows elsewhere on the church. Louvres cover the third story tower openings and the porch on the front façade is surmounted by a gable roof with turned posts and trefoil decoration.

St. Mary's Catholic Church of Katonah

The members of the St. Lukes Episcopal Church were organized in 1855 under the name St. Marks and worshiped at St. Matthew’s church in Bedford. It wasn't until 1888, that plans were made to build a church. The plans arose after the grandson of the chief of justice John Jay II passed away and left $500 for their building in Katonah.  The original site of the church was abandoned in 1895 due to the construction of the Croton Dam for the New York City water supply. The congregation began meeting again in 1916, gathering at a meeting house and a storage building. In 1921, the town of Katonah asked St. Marks in Mount Kisco to adopt this church as a Parochial mission. After petition money was raised to buy the property and Hobart Upjohn was chosen as the architect, construction began in 1921. The first services were held in 1923. On May 17, 1994, St. Luke's separated from St. Marks and converted into an organized mission of the Diocese New York. The current parish house was built in 1959 by Mrs. Cassie Hoffman. The church was in the Tudor Revival style that was popular for residential designs and religious buildings in the 1920s. Characteristics of this early English style are the building's half-timbered walls and the use of diamond-paned windows.

Katonah Hamlet Historic District

St. Luke's Episcopal Church

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