Greenville Presbyterian Church (New York) - History

History

The Greenville area, known originally as Freehold, was first prepared for settlement by Augustine Prevost, who received a 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) patent from the British Crown in 1767 as a reward for his service during the French and Indian War. He built roads and mills, and continued to own the property through the Revolution. In the 1790s, his efforts paid off as a new wave of pioneers came to New York, the younger sons of New England farmers and their families.

Although there were already long-established communities along the Hudson River, the New Englanders avoided them as they were leery of the Dutch-descended inhabitants and their language, religion and customs. They organized their congregation in 1790, receiving a two-acre gift from Prevost that restricted the property's future use to educational and religious purposes. It was the first non-Dutch church in the Catskill region.

The original meeting house was built in 1793 on a site just to the northwest of the current church. In 1794 the congregation formally incorporated and called the Rev. Beriah Hotchkiss to be its pastor, and in 1796 it became affiliated with the Northern Association Presbytery. Four years later, at the turn of the century, a newer, larger meeting house was built. It was described as having "a lofty spire, a spacious gallery, unpainted box pews, and an octagonal pulpit supported by a lofty column". The original meeting house was bought and moved to a nearby site, going through several uses before it was eventually demolished.

In 1815 the educational aspect of the land gift was secured with the construction of the first Greenville Free Academy Building, the first free public school in Greene County. Nine years later the church formally became known as the Greenville Presbyterian Church when it joined the Synod of Albany.

The meeting hall was expanded and remodeled in 1845. At the beginning of 1859 that work was lost when it burned down. The current church was its replacement, although a marble commemorative plaque was not placed over the door until 1872. A quarter-century later, in 1885, its original mahogany pulpit was replaced along with its white pews. The chapel was built the same year to accommodate smaller functions such as prayer gatherings and meetings of the board of trustees.

The stained-glass windows were added to the church between 1904 and 1913. During that time, in 1906, the new school building was built. In 1930, the school became part of the new Greenville Central School District and was extensively renovated by the Presbyterian Society. The chapel was sold to the local American Legion post in 1938 and has since been used by them and a local Boy Scout troop.

The school building underwent further renovations to become the Greenville library in 1957. In 1975 the porch was remodeled to resemble the porch on the 1815 building. There have been no significant alterations to the property since.