Institution

The current Peekskill Post Office was built in 1930-31 and was designed by James A. Wetmore, who served as Acting Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department. It is an example of Colonial Revival architecture, which had become increasingly popular in the early 20th century. The building was erected after the onset of the Great Depression in 1929 but before the establishment of New Deal legislation in 1933, making it unique amongst other Depression-era projects that were developed around this time. After the closure of the previous Peekskill Post Office, which operated from 1887 until 1911, the Treasury Department sought to open a new post office. This made the establishment of the current Peekskill Post Office even more unique in that this was the only instance in New York State before World War II that the Treasury Department was authorized to purchase and renovate a building to be used as a post office. The post office came to fruition after the 1930 amendment to the Public Buildings Act of 1926, which was one of the first federal reactions to the escalating economic crisis. Most federal buildings that were constructed during this time were utilitarian and represented standardization of design. Wetmore did not stray from this ideology, and the Peekskill Post Office portrayed characteristics that were common for its style and time period. The building has a symmetrical composition, Georgian-inspired detailing on the façade, elaborate brickwork, round arches, and a limestone trim. Though its design is now considered common, the Peekskill Post Office was one of the first to utilize these features, and its style was emulated by architects who designed post offices later on in the Depression-era.

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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.

Peekskill Post Office

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For two centuries, the Peekskill Downtown Historic District has been the heart of Peekskill’s commercial zone due in large part to its geographic location. The district is situated in the center of Peekskill where two historic roads intersect: the Albany Post Road, now known as Route 9; and Danbury Road, or Route 202, which leads down to the Hudson River. Still important for travel and trade, these were two of the most important north-south and east-west land routes in the lower Hudson Valley from colonial times into the automobile age.Before businesses took center stage in Peekskill’s downtown, residences were built close to mills, near what was known as Magregere’s Brook. In 1781, there were about twenty houses. By 1800 numerous stores and more mills appeared, joined by churches, a schoolhouse, and a burying ground. In 1816, the year that the Village of Peekskill was incorporated, there were approximately two hundred and fifty people living in the area.With its proximity to the Hudson River, and the “Peek’s Kill” (now known as the Annsville Creek) landing, the downtown was also close to ports for the shipment of local agriculture. In the 1820s, industry also arrived here, beginning with iron works for the production of farm equipment and stoves. More industry and stores pushed residences a bit further from the center to accommodate the commercial growth of the downtown. Two residential structures from the mid-nineteenth century have survived to the present day. They are located across from one another at the fringes of the Peekskill Downtown Historic District at 211 S. Division Street and 925 First Street, both built c.1850.Many 19th century places of worship downtown still exist in the Peekskill Downtown Historic District (although some have since been converted to other uses): the Peekskill First Baptist Church built in 1847 and rebuilt in 1871; St. Peter’s Episcopal Church from 1891 (added individually to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003); the First Presbyterian Church built in 1846 (added individually to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002); the Second Presbyterian Church/Field Library from 1845; the Church of the Assumption built in 1866; and the First Hebrew Congregation from 1904.Existing commercial buildings in the Peekskill Downtown Historic District include: Mandeville’s Tavern at 1000 Main Street, the oldest surviving commercial building in the district from c.1820; the Peekskill Evening Star Building from 1930; the Bank Street Service Station from 1937; the F.W. Woolworth Co. Store from 1947; and the former N.Y. Telephone Co. Exchange building at 1023 Brown Street from 1952.Also included in the historic district are many diverse building types: banks; art lofts; “The Guardian” school from 1905; the Cortlandt Hook &amp; Ladder Company at 828 Main Street from 1920; Pugsley Park from 1930; the Paramount Theatre from 1930; Peekskill City Hall from 1936; the U.S. Post Office on South Street from 1930; a private residence-turned-museum dating back to 1873 (Herrick House/Peekskill Museum); and Jan Peek Square Park from 1970. The Peekskill Downtown Historic District was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

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.

The church was built on the present site on a piece of land given by Nathaniel Brown in 1799, and as the years progressed, other people began to donate adjoining properties. In 1846 the building was torn down and the structure was replaced with a building twice the size of the original. The style the church was in the Greek Revival style based on the design books of Christopher Wren. This classical style was popular in the United States during the 1830s through the 1860s. Americans were inspired by the Greeks and Romans which led to many buildings, churches, and banks constructed in this style. The church reflected a classical Greek Temple with its tower, gable roof, pilasters, and columns.A significant part of the church is the “town clock” that was placed in its tower in 1846. Despite many attempts clock was not operative; its present electronic clock was installed in 1968 with a cost of $3,200. In 1858, an extension was added to the church in the rear. It consisted of a study room used for Sunday school lectures and a small chapel. When the Sunday school began growing, it was also expanded. This Peekskill church has had many improvements throughout the years but has maintained its architectural integrity. An important part of the church's history was the part women played in its organizion in 1841. Women were responsible for the growth of many congregations but the Peekskill church was one of the first in the Presbytery to elect women as elders. For approximately 80 years, the church had two congregations consisting of the old and new Presbyterian sects. A formal document was signed on June 20, 1920, by the trustees of the church confirming their unification.

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.

Peekskill Presbyterian Church

Dwight Stiles Herrick was born in 1845 in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts, to a distinguished New England family. He was educated at Amherst College and moved to Peekskill in 1867 where he taught classes at the Peekskill Military Academy. Herrick studied law with one of the academy founders, Edwards Wells, and became a Trustee of the Academy. Herrick married Sarah Frances Simpson Herrick in 1871. The couple were organizers and members of the local Handel and Hayden Music Society. Herrick passed away in 1908, shortly before his wife's death in 1909. They are both buried at Hillside Cemetery in Cortlandt, NY.The Herrick house was built in the Queen Anne style and designed by the architect William Rutherford Mead, who later became a member of the legendary architectural firm McKim, Mead &amp; White. The house may have influenced later construction in the area since two other homes located in the historic district were also built in the Queen Anne style. The Herrick House is a two-story, eleven room, wood frame dwelling, with a front gable roof and bay with verge boards and shingle gable decoration, a porch at entrance, an engaged 3-story tower at rear, prominent chimneys, a rear ell, wood clapboard and shingle siding. Today the house is well preserved in both its interior and exterior. The house eventually was owned by Mrs. Ida M. Adams, who gifted it to the Field Library for use as a museum in 1944. At the time, it took $10,000 and 4,000 historical items to transform the house into a museum, which has been expanded over the years and remains open to the public.

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.

Herrick House (Peekskill Museum)

Documentation shows that the Baptists have had a presence in Peekskill since the eighteenth century. It is recorded that there was a church building, but it is not known where it was located, In 1830 this early group of Baptists in Peekskill “disappeared.” Their recorded history picks back up in the early 1840s. In late 1843, a group of Baptists met in Peekskill’s Dutch Reformed Church to officially organize and construct a place of worship. Over the next two years they met in various locations, including at the corner of South and Division Streets, before purchasing a parcel of land on Main Street from James Brewer for $600. In 1845 construction of a church building at 831 Main Street began. The basement was completed in 1846, and the remainder finished in 1847.Almost a quarter century later in 1871, the First Baptist Church voted to rebuild their church building at 831 Main Street. The main structure was raised two feet and moved back nine feet on the lot so that the church would be in line with the buildings on either side. The rebuilt church, which cost approximately $12,000, was dedicated in December of 1871. Additional improvements were made in the following years to the church to the edifice and the installation of a large pipe organ. The congregation of the Peekskill First Baptist Church continued to worship in the building for many more decades. In 1953, the decision was made to construct a new church at another Peekskill location. Planning got underway in 1956, and that same year the congregation purchased the residence of Peekskill Mayor Raymond Moniz and the adjacent lots as the site for their new church. The original church building at 831 Main Street was immediately sold to the Refuge Church of Christ, under an agreement that Baptist services would continue to be held at the Main Street church until the new church was completed. Three years later, in 1959, the Baptist congregation moved into their new church at 690 Highland Avenue. As of 2022, the Refuge Church of Christ continues holding services at the 831 Main Street location.The building at 831 Main Street in Peekskill is a wood frame construction. It possesses a front gable roof, and a three-part facade with a central entrance containing a vestibule. It exhibits large tripartite arched windows. Two towers originally appeared on the eastern and western sides of the building. The eastern tower has since been removed and the western is now topped with a short steeple. The exterior otherwise remains largely intact. The original Peekskill First Baptist Church building is included in the Peekskill Downtown Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

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.

Peekskill First Baptist Church (Refuge Church of Christ)

Located on the far western edge of the Peekskill Downtown Historic District, the First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue was built in 1904 to serve an Orthodox Jewish congregation of Yiddish and German speaking families. One of the first synagogues in the area, the house of workshop originally accommodated a group of twenty-five families which had outgrown their prior prayer location above the Peekskill City Laundry at 110 South Division Street, where they had began meeting in 1896.  The temple at 813 Main Street was constructed next to the First Baptist Church of Peekskill. Designed in the Gothic Revival style, it exhibits a front gable roof, lancet windows, a projecting entrance vestibule with pointed parapet, and metal clapboard siding. By 1906, there were about forty active Jewish families within Peekskill’s Jewish community. By 1908, official church records were being recorded in English, rather than the original German, reflecting the changing demographics and evolution of the expanding congregation. By this point, the minyan of men was also joined by the Sisterhood of the First Hebrew Congregation, which organized charitable activities to help local families in need, eventually expanding to the Hebrew Ladies Aid Society.In the late 1930s, the congregation began holding dances, plays, and meetings in the “old Moose building” on Union Avenue between Central and South Streets. In 1957, they constructed a second synagogue at 1821 East Main Street where seven acres had been purchased. The original 1904 synagogue continued in use for prayer services, and the new First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue and Community Center building served the community’s educational, philanthropic, and recreational needs, as well as hosting overflow high holiday services. The 1904 synagogue continued its orthodox tradition until its sale in 2017. The 1957 synagogue, which is considered conservative, remains in use to this day. The 1904 First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue located at 813 Main Street was sold to the Islamic Center of Peekskill called Misjid Al-Tawheed in 2017. The First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue and Community Center at 1821 East Main Street continues in use as a religious hub for Peekskill’s Jewish community.

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.

First Hebrew Congregation Synagogue of Peekskill, NY

The Peekskill Evening Star Building, located at 824 Main Street in Peekskill’s Downtown Historic District, was built in 1930. The architects Stern &amp; Peyser designed the masonry building in the Art Deco Style. It has a two-story front section with limestone veneer. On the Main Street side there is a three-bay façade with central pavilion with a monumental arched glazed entrance and a tall parapet with a carved sign. The rear section is one tall story, constructed of brick with tall windows.The origins of Peekskill’s The Evening Star newspaper can be traced back to an earlier newspaper, Peekskill’s The Evening News which was published from 1901 to 1922. Richard Conn, a former resident of Poughkeepsie, bought some of The Evening News’ equipment and three months later started publishing The Evening Star. In 1924 Mr. Conn sold the paper to E. Joe Albertson and Donald F. Ikeler, both of Bloomsburg, PA. These two owners ran the paper for almost forty years.In 1931 Albertson and Ikeler moved the production of The Evening Star into the building on Main Street. They also expanded the newspaper coverage to report on events in Yorktown, Cortlandt, and Putnam. In 1972 the paper was sold to Ogden Newspapers, Inc. of Wheeling, WV, but continued to be published locally. In 1985 it was purchased by Gannett and became part of the Westchester Rockland Newspaper group.As of 2022, The Peekskill Evening Star Building is owned by Vivid RGB Lighting, LLC, who bought the building in 2015. There is still local interest in the history of the building including a Facebook group called the Peekskill Evening Star.

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.

The Peekskill Evening Star Building

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.

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.

Peekskill Downtown Historic District

Peekskill Post Office

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