First Presbyterian Church in

Sag Harbor, New York Sag Harbor is an Administrative divisions of New York#Village, incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns of Southampton, New York, Southampton and East Hampton (town) ...

, also known as Old Whaler's Church, is a historic and architecturally notable

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 ...

built in 1844 in the

Egyptian Revival Egyptian Revival is an architectural style that uses the motifs and imagery of ancient Egypt. It is attributed generally to the public awareness of ancient Egyptian monuments generated by Napoleon's French campaign in Egypt and Syria, invasion of ...

style. The church is Sag Harbor's "most distinguished landmark."Starin, Dennis (June 4, 1972). "Exploring Legendary Sag Harbor; The Legend of Sag Harbor", ''The New York Times'' The facade has been described as "the most important (surviving) example of Egyptian revival style in the United States,"''First Presbyterian Church Historic Brochure'', 2005. and "the best example of the Egyptian Revival style in the U.S. today.''Self-Guided Walking Tour of Sag Harbor''. Published by the Sag Harbor Historical Society. The church was designed by

Minard Lafever Minard Lafever (1798–1854) was an American architect of churches and houses in the United States in the early nineteenth century. Life and career Lafever began life as a carpenter around 1820. At this period in the United States there were no ...

in an Egyptian Revival style that includes

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, ...

elements. With its original

steeple In architecture, a steeple is a tall tower on a building, topped by a spire and often incorporating a belfry and other components. Steeples are very common on Christian churches and cathedrals and the use of the term generally connotes a relig ...

, 185 feet high, it was the tallest structure on Long Island when built. The steeple was destroyed by the Great New England Hurricane of 1938. Although many lament the loss, architectural historian Richard Carrot believes that the removal of the steeple was "successful", in that it left "a more 'Egyptian' building."Carrott, Richard G. (1978). ''The Egyptian Revival: Its Sources, Monuments and Meaning, 1808-1858''. University of California Press, Berkeley, p. 78, n. 27. The church is located at 44 Union Street, within the historic Sag Harbor Village District, and was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1994. It is the only such landmark in Sag Harbor.

Architecture

The church's tripartite facade evokes the massive trapezoidal pylons of

Egyptian temples Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the ancient Egyptian deities, gods and in commemoration of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt and regions under Egyptian control. Temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they w ...

. The deep cornice is crested with a crenelation of

blubber Blubber is a thick layer of Blood vessel, vascularized adipose tissue under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds, penguins, and sirenians. It was present in many marine reptiles, such as Ichthyosauria, ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs. Description ...

spades, referring to the whaling industry that created the wealth of the village.''AIA Architectural Guide to Nassau and Suffolk Counties, Long Island''. Published by the American Institute of Architects, Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities. Courier Dover Publications, 1992. Building #207. Sag-whalers

The minister's dedicatory sermon said that the congregation's intention in commissioning an Egyptian-style building was to symbolize

Solomon's Temple Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (), was a biblical Temple in Jerusalem believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries Common Era, BCE. Its description is largely based on narratives in the Hebrew Bible, in which it ...

.Hamlin, Talbot (May 1952). "The Rise of Eclecticism in New York", ''Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians,'' Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 3-8.Landy, Jacob (1970). ''The Architecture of Minard Lafever''. Columbia University Press, New York, pp. 230, 287. The foyer features trapezoidal

doors. The original bell is preserved in the

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of Early Christian art and architecture, early Christian and Byzantine architecture, Byzantine basilicas and Church architecture, churches consisting of the entrance or Vestibule (architecture), ve ...

. It was taken out and rung for the building's 100th anniversary in 1944,"Church Bell Ends 6 Years' Silence; Whalers Church Celebrates 100th Anniversary at Sag Harbor With Pageant", ''The New York Times,'' August 7, 1944. during World War II. The church also celebrated the anniversary by putting on a grand historical pageant in the costumes of the 1840s. As many local young men were stationed overseas, they sang a song from 1849, when many local men left for the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

: "Star of Peace to Wanderers Weary." The service was broadcast by radio over the

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

as an example of the Four Freedoms."Old Whalers' Church Seeking Steeple Fund", ''The New York Times,'' January 20, 1952. The interior of the sanctuary is entirely in ornate Greek Revival style. It is spacious, with a capacity to seat 800. The pulpit is framed by a pair of pilasters and a pair of Corinthian columns that rise over 50 feet to a

coffer A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault. A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, al ...

ed ceiling.

Trompe-l'œil ; ; ) is an artistic term for the highly realistic optical illusion of three-dimensional space and objects on a Two-dimensional space, two-dimensional surface. , which is most often associated with painting, tricks the viewer into perceiving p ...

behind the pulpit gives the impression of a curved wall. The old-fashioned box pews have Cuban mahogany railings. Many have hand-engraved, 19th-century silver nameplates on the doors, when families "bought" some boxes. Fluted columns support galleries on each side of the sanctuary. The coffered ceiling is supported from a central beam, eliminating the need for supporting columns. It is edged with

egg-and-dart Egg-and-dart, also known as egg-and-tongue, egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, is an Ornament (architecture), ornamental device adorning the fundamental quarter-round, convex ovolo profile of molding (decorative), moulding, consisting of alternating ...

molding. A fence along Union Street is built with Egyptian

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

-shaped fence posts. It is a modern copy of the original fence, which was removed in the 1880s. The fence was an important part of Lafever's original plan to replicate

in Egyptian style. The plan of the original Temple had a forecourt. Worshippers would pass two great pillars, named Boaz and Jachin, before passing into the sanctuary. In Lafever's design, the fence marked the "forecourt", and the doorway is framed by two enormous pylons representing Boaz and Jachin.

Steeple

The church was originally topped with a steeple 185 feet tall, making it visible to ships rounding Montauk Point about 21 miles away by road. The church was the tallest building on Long Island when it opened. The steeple was designed in three upward tapering sections. At the base was an octagonal Greek revival

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

in which a bell hung. This was a replica of the 4th century BC

Choragic Monument of Lysicrates The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates near the Acropolis of Athens was erected by the ''Choregos (ancient Greece), choregos'' Lysicrates, a wealthy patron of musical performances in the Theater of Dionysus, to commemorate the prize in the dithyram ...

. Above this was a section with four panels, each with Greek key and rosette motifs, which contained clockworks made by Ephriam Byram, Sag Harbor's clockmaker. The clock was removed in 1845 since the area's high winds, which powered the town's many windmills, caused vibrations that made the clock run inaccurately. The slender top spire supported a weather vane. In the late 1800s, George Sterling and his best friend Roosevelt Johnson climbed to the top of the steeple one Saturday night and nailed a homemade pirate's flag to the top. Churchgoers were shocked to see it Sunday morning, and tried to identify the perpetrators, but could not. The flag flew for a week before a professional steeplejack was hired to remove it. The steeple was destroyed during the Great Hurricane of 1938. Fundraising to replace the steeple began in 1952. In 1997 a proposal was floated to raise the necessary funds by installing a cell-phone transmission tower inside the new steeple, to be paid for by the cell phone company. In 2000, the cost of restoring the steeple was estimated at $2,000,000.

History

The first building of the First Presbyterian Church of Sag Harbor was erected in 1766. Known as the "Old Barn Church", it was a "simple building of uncouth shape," a wood-frame building with walls and a roof, but neither a ceiling nor interior plastered walls. According to the Rev. Nathaniel S. Prime,

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

from 1806–09, "If a shower of rain occurred during public worship, the minister was obliged to retreat to the corner of the ample pulpit to escape the falling drops." Atheneum Historical Marker 01

The "Old Barn Church" was torn down and a second church built in 1816, using lumber recycled from the old building. When the 1816 building became too small, as the congregation expanded through the

Second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the late 18th to early 19th century in the United States. It spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching and sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a k ...

, the present building was built in 1844. The plot of land cost $2,000 and the congregation spent $17,000 on the building, before it was furnished. The church was named a

by the U.S. Department of the Interior in 1994. The congregation hopes someday to reconstruct the steeple. The 1816 building was sold for other uses. Known as "the Atheneum," it was used as a community lecture hall and theater. It burned down on April 30, 1924.

Restoration

In 1950 when the ceiling was found to be unsafe, the church had to be closed for many months. It was reopened in July 1952 after thorough repairs. The "modern" electric lighting fixtures were removed and replaced with a chandelier and sidelights designed to look like the church's original whale-oil burning fixtures. Another restoration, beginning in the 1990s, received state funding because of the building's historic significance.Vincent, Stuart (August 19, 1997). "Albany Helps Whalers' Church", ''The New York Times''. During this period the church documented that Minard Lafever had designed the 19th-century building. A letter was found, written by a young cabinetmaker working on the building in 1843, who named Lafever as the architect. This confirmation aided in gaining financial support for the church's restoration, based on its architectural significance. Given documentation of the architect, and with other restoration money for structural repairs, church administrators believed they would be able to raise funds to restore the steeple.

Modern use

The church continues to be used by the First Presbyterian congregation, which meets on Sunday morning.

References

External links

*, taken "prior to September 1938 when the steeple was destroyed in a hurricane"
Conservative Synagogue of the HamptonsFirst Presbyterian
{{Authority control National Historic Landmarks in New York (state) Sag Harbor, New York Churches on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state) Presbyterian churches in New York (state) Churches completed in 1833 Replicas of Solomon's Temple Churches in Suffolk County, New York 19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Historic American Buildings Survey in New York (state) National Register of Historic Places in Suffolk County, New York Egyptian Revival architecture in the United States Greek Revival architecture in New York (state) Greek Revival church buildings in New York (state) Egyptian Revival church buildings