Church of the Assumption

Church of the Assumption, Roman Catholic Church, Gabriels. (Photo 9/26/2010)

This is a sister church to St. John's in the Wilderness (Lake Clear) in that it is of a similar design. Built by Benjamin A. Muncil in 1923. Muncil also built  St. Paul's Catholic Church in Bloomingdale about seven years later.  I believe Muncil's grave is at St. John's in the Wilderness Episcopal Church just down the road in Paul Smith's along with Clifford Pettis and Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau.

St. Olaf's Chapel

St. Olaf's Lutheran Chapel, 1953, in Eagle Bay, NY on the South Shore Rd between Inlet and Old Forge. (Photo 9/24/10)

This chapel is not listed in "Adirondack Churches" and I haven't found much on the internet about it.

Scandinavian in look with brushed vertical siding and simple carved detail on the porch posts. A sign indicates the rest room around back which is an outhouse. To the left of the front porch is a 9 or 10 foot cross standing over a pile of stones overgrown with ferns. Obvious in the pile of stones is a large white chunk of coral. If in fact this is a grave I would be very interested in knowing the story of the person buried there. 

Perhaps some Norwegian seaman. But how did he get there? Something I'll have to follow up on.

St. Christopher's Church

St. Christopher's Episcopalian Church, Adirondack Mission in North Creek, NY (photo 9/24/2010)

This is a postage stamp size church, I'm guessing about 12' x 32' in size with space for maybe 30 parishioners, tops. I almost didn't turn down the side street this church is located on. This charming little building of relatively new construction was a real find.

"St. Christopher's Church, North Creek, started out meeting in the local fire house.  In 1948 one and one half prefabricated garages arrived on a rail car.  The building was assembled on Ridge Street. where it still stands, making St. Christophers's one of the smallest church buildings in the Diocese of Albany." This information from the Adirondack Mission website.

If the front door is locked the key hangs conveniently within easy reach  to the right of the door.

St. John in the Wilderness

St. John in the Wilderness Church, Lake Clear, NY (photo 8/24/2010)

Arts and Crafts style building built in 1917 to plans supplied by the Catholic Church Extension Society with addition and remodel in 1979.

Two later churches built nearby in Gabriels (Catholic Church of the Assumption) and Bloomingdale (St. Paul's Catholic Church) are of similar appearance.

Stony Wold Hall

Stony Wold Hall (1909)  (photo October 20 2007)

Stony Wold Sanatorium was built on Lake Kushaqua in 1903.  SWH, built in 1909, was a multi-purpose building including both Catholic and non-Catholic space for worship. In the 20's a space was provided for Jewish worship.

In the 70's  the sanatorium was bought by NY State and included in the Forever Wild ADK Park. SW Hall is all that remains. Now a private residence.

At this point I should acknowledge a tremendous resource for anyone interested in Adirondack Churches and their history:  Adirondack Churches  by Sally E.  Svenson, Adirondack Architectural Heritage, 2006.

I came across this book some time after my initial idea of photographing ADK churches and other houses of worship and was incredibly thankful that someone had done the real research that was beyond my ability and my intent.  I will resort to this book on occasion for identifying churches that have gone on to other uses. But if you want real, well researched detail you will buy this book!

Adirondack Presbyterian Church

 The Adirondack Presbyterian Church located in Lake Clear. This photo taken August 24, 2010.

As I noted previously the idea for taking picture of houses of worship, and perhaps some other public structures, has been in the back of my mind for some time. Since I first thought of the idea some of the buildings I would have taken pictures of have been destroyed by fire, most notably the a church in Warrensburg in an accidental fire and one in Pottersville set on purpose by a young man with a twisted idea of religion.

The future of any structure is uncertain except it is certain to decay over time. Small towns across the Adirondacks are growing smaller.  Some congregations are dwindling and the cost of repairing old buildings is high. Many old churches that will appear here have found new purposes. Some, like the stately Our Lady of Angels in Whitehall have been lost to the wrecking ball.

Genesis

In the course of our work we spend a lot of time traveling around the Adirondacks and occasionally going into churches to quote on work. I love the architecture of these  houses of worship, the vernacular quality, the sometimes unexpected detail and what all this says about the people of the various parishes, of the  Adirondacks, but also of the changes in the way people think of themselves and the world around them as expressed through some of the most prominent buildings in their communities.

 At some point I got the idea that it would be an interesting project to document all the churches within the Blue Line in a one year period. I started taking pictures of some of these structures with the intent of doing a book, a set of portraits of those buildings; but I'll never get to a book with all my other projects so I'm starting this blog in order to put this information somewhere that may be useful to someone in the future.

So here is my first church. No particular reason for this church except that it was the first I came across on my hard-drive. My intent is to simply post a picture of the building as it exists now. These are not intended as portraits; I'm not trying to pretty these up, I want to show the power-lines, the cars the roadside trash, whatever is there at the time.

 My hope is that others will add information about these structures.

This is the Linwood Baptist Church in the Town of Hadley or maybe Day near Stewart Pond and the Conklingville Dam in northern Saratoga County. Photo taken October 25, 2008.