Peekskill Downtown Historic District (Tour) - Clio

Entries on This Tour

1. Peekskill Presbyterian Church

The congregation of the Peekskill Presbyterian Church dates back to 1846, at that time Peekskill was the fastest-growing community in the town of Cortland. The first sanctuary built in 1799 was quickly outgrown and torn down. The new building was placed in the same location and completed in 1846 and was twice the size of the original. The design of the church is adapted from Christopher Wren's 17th-century designs with Greek Revival details.

2. Peekskill Post Office

Westchester’s first post office, located in Peekskill, opened on December 20th, 1791. Throughout the history of mail delivery, modes of transportation continued to change with the times. Before post offices existed, mail deliveries were made on horseback, until the introduction of the stagecoach in 1785. Once the Peekskill Post Office opened, mail from New York City would be transported to Peekskill three days a week by use of the Hudson River. This lasted from the early 19th century until the mid-1850s, when mail was carried by the New York Central Railroad. The success of the Peekskill Post Office laid the foundation for efficient mail delivery in Westchester, therefore initiating the growth of post offices within the county. The current post office was built 1930-31.

3. Herrick House (Peekskill Museum)

The Herrick House in Peekskill, New York, was the residence of Dwight Stiles Herrick and his wife, Sarah Frances Simpson Herrick. In 1879, William Rutherford Mead, a classmate from Amherst, teamed up with two partners, Charles Follen McKim and Stanford White, to create the house. In 1944, the Peekskill Museum acquired the Herrick House from Mrs. Ida Adams, the last owner of the private residence, and it opened to the public on May 17, 1946. The museum was created and operates today to collect, preserve, study and display objects, photographs, documents, and other items related to Peekskill’s history. The Herrick House, recognized for its distinctive nineteenth century urban architecture, is located in the Peekskill Downtown Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. The whole district is a rare surviving example of 19th century urban commercial development in the Hudson Valley.

4. Peekskill First Baptist Church (Refuge Church of Christ)

Although Baptists have had a presence in Peekskill, since the early eighteenth century, the Peekskill First Baptist Church officially dates to 1843 when the congregation formally organized. Since then, the congregation has constructed a church building, rebuilt that original, and then sold that building and relocated to a new location. Originally constructed in 1847 at 831 Main Street, the Peekskill First Baptist Church and was rebuilt in the same location in 1871. This Romanesque-style edifice served congregants for over eight decades before being sold to the Refuge Church of Christ in 1956. That same year the Peekskill First Baptist Church purchased property at 690 Highland Avenue in Peekskill to build a new place of worship. The Refuge Church of Christ continues holding services in the original home of the Peekskill First Baptist Church. The Peekskill Downtown Historic District, including the historic First Baptist Church of Peekskill, was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

5. First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue of Peekskill, NY

Built in 1904 on Main Street in Peekskill, NY, the First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue served as the house of worship for Peekskill’s Orthodox Jewish community for close to 115 years. Originally comprised of ten Yiddish- and German-speaking families, the congregation began meeting to pray in a loft above the Peekskill City Laundry in 1896. Their congregation's numbers grew to twenty-five families by 1903, prompting the decision to purchase land and build a temple at 813 Main Street in 1904. It was the first synagogue in the area. The small, wooden-framed building was designed in the Gothic Revival style with a front gable roof, a projecting entrance vestibule, and metal clapboard siding. A second, larger building for Peekskill’s Jewish community was constructed at 1821 East Main Street in 1957. The original 1904 synagogue continued in use for more than fifty years and was sold to the Islamic Center of Peekskill in 2017. The First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue is located in the Peekskill Downtown Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

6. The Peekskill Evening Star Building

The Peekskill Evening Star Building in Peekskill, NY, was constructed in 1930 as the new headquarters for The Evening Star, a full-sheet daily newspaper that was published and printed locally for almost fifty years. It is located at the corner of Main and Decatur Streets and includes a two-story front section and one-story rear section. The building exhibits distinctive elements of the Art Deco, or Moderne architectural style, including a monumental arched glazed entrance and tall parapet. After The Evening Star newspaper ceased publication, the building was sold. In 2015, the building was purchased by Vivid RGB Lighting LLC. The Peekskill Evening Star Building is located in the Peekskill Downtown Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

7. 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.

This Tour is a Walking Tour.

Peekskill Downtown Historic District

Created by Westchester County Historical Society on August 3rd 2022, 2:35:34 pm.

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Description

The Peekskill Downtown Historic District encompasses a large section of the City of Peekskill in northwestern Westchester County, NY. It covers numerous streets: Main, Division, South, Park, Bank, Brown, First, and Esther Streets, as well as Central and Union Avenues. There are 150 contributing buildings in the district including many former commercial and bank buildings, houses of worship, art lofts, former homes, inns, parks, municipal buildings, and offices. Examples of Greek Revival Style architecture from the mid-nineteenth century can be found in the district, along with Italianate and Second Empire, Late Victorian, Art Deco Style and the Modern Movement. Over the past centuries many changes have affected Peekskill’s downtown landscape, chiefly the demolition of historic buildings during the Urban Renewal Program of the 1960s and 70s and the construction of nearby interstate highways. In spite of the loss of significant portions of its fabric, the Peekskill Downtown Historic District remains a rare surviving example of nineteenth-century urban commercial development in the Hudson Valley. The Peekskill Downtown Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

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