Saint Mary's Church, Indian Lake

Saint Mary's Church, Indian Lake
(photo 9/26/2010)

I don't really know much about architectural styles. To me this is a modern style sort of prow-roofed cross between a chalet and a ranch done free of excess ornament in yellowish brick. I have no information on this building but I am guessing it was built after Vatican 2.

There are few examples of a real sort of regional style that I have found in churches so there is no reason to think of these more modern churches as being odd in the context of the Adirondacks except that maybe brick as an exterior doesn't ring true to the Adk aesthetic. Still this looks a well built solid, proud yet unassuming structure. Some of the newer churches move further from pride in appearance to downright solid and homely.

I am not sure what it is that these buildings say about  the communities of people  who built them, use them or live in the community with them. How have these people changed over time and what does the architecture say about that.

I hope that some of these questions will resolve themselves for me over time.

St John's in the Wilderness, Paul Smiths

St John's in the Wilderness Episcopal Church, Paul Smiths 1927
(photos 9/26/2010)

Adirondack Churches, by Sally Svenson devotes a chapter to Church Design for Summer Residents and Visitors and St John's figures prominently. The original church was a log building built in 1877 designed by George Hathorne of New York city.  Fundraising for the new church was led by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, who I believe is buried behind the present church. The idea of building with logs was novel for wealthy visitors who enjoyed the spending time as rustics while on vacation from the city.
Locals preferred to more sophisticated construction if it could be afforded.

The original church burned down in 1927 and was replaced with a  more fire resistant stone church in a medieval English style designed by William Distin of Saranac Lake.

This is also the final resting place of Clifford R. Pettis a Cornell University Forester who is named as "the father of reforestation" in New York State. Pettis was Superintendent of State Forests from 1910 to 1927 a time when much of the Adirondacks was a deforested wasteland prone to fire and erosion.

Deer Meadows, Inlet

Okay, so this isn't a house of worship but I love the sign. And they have a phone booth. Retro.

St. Bartholomew Catholic Church, Old Forge

St Bartholomew Catholic Church, Old Forge
(photo 11/19/2010)

The cornerstone gives a date of May 3, 1991 for this building which is undergoing some minor renovation.  The internets give a founding date of 1897 for the parish and the current building apparently replaces a spectacular Queen Anne style wood-frame structure built in 1899 which had an ornate if somewhat grotesque tower reaching skyward like some sort of pagoda rocket.

The current arch glulam and brick building says oh-so 1991 though some of the furnishings may have been salvaged from an older church. An odd eclecticism.