Irvington Presbyterian Church

Located on 25 North Broadway, the Irvington Presbyterian Church was designed in the Romanesque Revival style by architect James Renwick Jr. The exterior facades consist of granite walls with a rock-faced brownstone trim that has alternating colors in the voussoirs of its arches. The roof and its tower display French Second Empire Style architectural influences and was originally topped with an octagonal dome. The church construction was funded by its church member such as railroad magnate Jay Gould, transatlantic telegraph pioneer Cyrus Field, and businessman Charles Tiffany contributing to the building. The church has undergone several renovations throughout its history.

The Irvington Presbyterian Church was constructed in 1869 and designed by architect James Renwick Jr., who is best known for his work on St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, as well as the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. The construction costs were funded by the church members, with notable figures such as Jay Gould, Cyrus Field, Charles Tiffany, and George Morgan contributing. The stones which were used to construct the church were quarried on site. The original design of the church was just the present sanctuary and a large lecture hall.

Prior to the construction of the Renwick church, Irvington’s Presbyterian community worshiped in a church constructed in accordance with Thomas Rickmann’s Nomenclature of English Gothic manual. The church was built in 1853 and was finished in three months. The church was later sold to the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Irvington for $8,000 but was destroyed by a fire in 1970. The original church has since been demolished.

Irvington Presbyterian Church, has undergone several additions and renovations. In 1900 the church manse was built; 13 years later interior renovations to the church were completed, including the installation of windows designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Due to storm damages, the original spire was removed in 1938 and replaced in 1966 with a taller spire. However, the two most significant renovations to the church occurred in 1946 and 1963: in 1946 the church added a new assembly space and classrooms in its expansion, and in 1963 the church added a new L-shaped building to its campus known as Knox Hall, which added offices, classrooms, an auditorium, and a small chapel.

“Presbyterian Church Purchased.” Immaculate Conception Church. Accessed November 18, 2021. https://iccirvington.org/presbyterian-church-purchased.

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Irvington Historic District.” National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior/National Park Service, November 29, 2013. https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/13001095.pdf

Mulligan, Tim. “The Lower Hudson.” Essay. In The Traveler's Guide to the Hudson River Valley: From Saratoga Springs to New York City, 219–19. Hensonville, NY: Black Dome Press, 2007.

https://archive.org/details/travelersguideto00mull/page/219/mode/2up