50 Oldest Churches of NYC: New Utrecht Reformed Church

Posted on by Thor

New Utrecht Reformed Church,  1827 83rd Street at 18th Avenue Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York is the fourth oldest Reformed Church in America.

The church was established in 1677 by ethnic Dutch residents in the town of New Utrecht, Brooklyn, several years after the English took over New Netherland (now Manhattan). Previously, the inhabitants of New Utrecht formed part of the congregations of Flatbush, Flatlands and Brooklyn.

The cemetery was consecrated in 1654 with 1300 dead interred there. The earliest recorded burial was in 1654. Members of such notable early Dutch settlers as the Van Pelts, Van Brunts, Cropseys, Cowenhovens and Bennetts are buried there.

During the Revolutionary War the British made New Utrecht their base of operations for the Battle of Long Island, the first large-scale British invasion of the colonies.

The Liberty Pole, the sixth on the site of the present church, was originally erected in 1783 at the end of the Revolutionary War to harass departing British troops. The Liberty Pole marks the spot over which the American flag first waved in the town of New Utrecht. The original pole was erected by our forefathers at the Evacuation of the British, November 1783, amid the firing of cannons and demonstration of joy.”

The present church was built in 1828 of stones taken from the original church, built in 1700. It is a rare example of a rural church in a picturesque setting in New York City. Construction was supervised by US Army engineer, Rene Edward De Russy, who led the construction of Fort Hamilton at New York harbor. The parish house was built in 1892 and the parsonage in 1906. This sketch is of the parish house.

The church was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1966; the parish house and the cemetery received landmark status in 1998. Both the church and the cemetery are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Old Barracks Trenton New Jersey

Posted on by Thor

The Old Barracks Museum preserves the history of a building constructed in 1758 as a French and Indian War military barracks, used as winter quarters for British soldiers.

Throughout the Revolutionary War, the Barracks was used for a variety of purposes by both the British and the Americans. British prisoners of war were held in the Officers’ House, four companies of the Second New Jersey Regiment of the Continental Line were raised here, and in 1777 the Barracks became an army hospital under Dr. Bodo Otto, who oversaw smallpox inoculations for the Continental Army.

The Barracks, and Trenton, are most known for the events of December 1776. At the beginning of the month, British and Hessian troops occupied Trenton, and briefly stayed in the Barracks prior to the Battles of Trenton. Colonists, loyal to the English king, also arrived, seeking protection from the soldiers, and were believed to be staying at the Barracks when Washington and his troops marched into Trenton on the morning of December 26th. After the miraculously successful Battles of Trenton and Princeton, the Americans returned to Trenton in January 1777 and made use of the now empty Barracks, primarily as the aforementioned hospital.

At the beginning of the 20th century, members of the Daughters of the American Revolution and the Colonial Dames organized The Old Barracks Association and spearheaded a campaign to purchase the building. The building has been a museum for over a century, and has frequently been used as a symbol for the state of New Jersey.