Cuyler Presbyterian Church, also known as Cuyler Chapel and Cuyler Presbyterian Church and Parsonage, is a historic

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

at 358–360 Pacific Street in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...

. It was designed by architect Edward Sargent (1842–1914). It was built in 1892 and is a two-story rectangular plan building with a steeply pitched,

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

covered gable roof and molded

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

copings. It was converted to a private residence in the early 1980s. The former parsonage was built c. 1851 and is a

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

style dwelling. The church served as the cornerstone for the Mohawk community in

Boerum Hill Boerum Hill (pronounced ) is a small neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, bounded by Schermerhorn Street to the north and Fourth Avenue to the east. The western border is variously given as either ...

(formerly known as North Gowanus). ''See also:'' The Mohawk called their neighborhood " Little Caughnawaga," after their homeland in Canada. For nearly 50 years, most Mohawk in New York lived within 10 square blocks in Brooklyn; they were from ''

Kahnawake The Kahnawake Mohawk Territory (, in the Mohawk language, ''Kahnawáˀkye'' in Tuscarora) is a First Nations reserve of the Mohawks of Kahnawà:ke on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, across from Montreal. Establi ...

,'' a reserve in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. The men were

ironworkers An ironworker is a tradesman who works in the iron-working industry. Ironworkers assemble the structural framework in accordance with engineering drawings, engineered drawings and install the metal support pieces for new buildings. They also ...

known as Mohawk skywalkers on the bridge and skyscraper projects of New York. The women, some of whom had gone to New York separately for economic opportunity, and others who were wives and mothers, worked in a variety of jobs, as well as creating community for their families. The church was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2001.

References

External links

National Park Service, Cuyler Presbyterian Church feature article for National American Indian Heritage MonthReaghan Tarbell, ''To Brooklyn and Back: A Mohawk Journey''
PBS, 2 November 2009, documentary about the Mohawk women who created community in North Gowanus, Brooklyn during the first half of the 20th century Mohawk culture Native American history of New York (state) Presbyterian churches in New York City Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Brooklyn Churches completed in 1892 19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Churches in Brooklyn 1892 establishments in New York (state) Quebec diaspora Native Americans in New York City {{NYC-Presbyterian-church-stub