The church complex is on a parcel of land on the east side of Route 9H, roughly north of its junction with routes
23 and
23B in the center of Claverack. It is on a small rise about from the road, sheltered by mature trees around a paved driveway and parking lot. The surrounding area is rural to the north and residential, with large
lots, to the south. In that direction, on the same side of Route 9H, is the
George Felpel House, also on the Register. There are three buildings, a garage, parsonage and the Christian Education Center, to its south. The cemetery, which takes up most of the property, is to the north with a small stone shed in the middle. All the buildings on the property, except the Christian Education Center and the cemetery, are considered
contributing resources to the National Register listing.
Church Exterior The one-story church building is faced in brick laid in
English bond on a stone
foundation with steeply
pitched gambrel roof with boxed
cornice and long lower slopes flared at the bottom. The main block is with a two-stage, four-story centrally located tower on the south (front) elevation. Near the rear are two small wings on either side that serve as a
transept. Both have entrances. The north has a projection for the
apse. Two small exterior chimneys rise on this side. On the south
facade, the tower is joined to the main block by a three-
bay pedimented
gabled projecting front section. The tower's double paneled door, and the similar doors with segmental arches flanking it on the projection, are the church's main entrances. Its brick is laid in common bond. Three
louvered round-arched openings are on each story of the south face of the tower. Openings that once existed on three sides of the fourth story have been visibly bricked over. A deep cornice supports the square
belfry, where paired
fluted Doric columns flanking
rusticated round-arched openings support a domed roof with tall finial. The east and west elevations have three tall rounded-arch windows apiece south of the transept wings, flanked by louvered wood
blinds. The west further has the numerals "1767" above the windows, in brick painted to look like iron. The north side has two windows similar to those on the other elevations in each wing, and two small oval windows in the gable.
Interior From the tower entrance, a
vestibule with stairs up either side of the tower leads to another pair of double doors, which open into the
barrel-vaulted sanctuary. It is finished primarily in white
plaster on lath with simple
woodwork trim. Two aisles allow access to the
pews, with paneled ends, curved tops and paneled doors. Along both sides are balconies supported by decorative
cast iron columns. At the north end is the raised
pulpit, in a niche between paired
pilasters below a semi-circular
pediment. The stairs to the
choir loft have S-curved
newels at either end. The wooden
Gothic Revival case for the church's original
pipe organ is along the loft's south wall.
Outbuildings Immediately to the southeast of the church is the Christian Education Center. It is a two-story brick building in the
Colonial Revival style with a gabled roof and a small entrance wing on its southwest. While it is sympathetic to the church, it is of modern construction and therefore non-contributing. About to the south, across two parking lots, is the
parsonage. It is a three-bay, two-story frame house sided in
vinyl with a pedimented front gable and single-bay entrance porch on the northern bay with square piers. The western two bays on the north and south have one-story gabled wings, and there is a two-story porch on the east. Brick chimneys rise from the north end of the north wing and the middle of the south elevation. Inside, there is an open fireplace in the basement and a hand pump by the door. The interior has not been altered save for the addition of a
powder room on the first floor. The exterior windows have been replaced with similarly designed modern counterparts. To its northeast is a small frame garage with a
hipped roof. It was built in the early 20th century, and is considered contributing. The only other contributing outbuilding is a small stone shed in the middle of the cemetery, north of the church. It, too, was built at the beginning of the 20th century.
Cemetery The cemetery takes up of the church's overall property. It is mostly located to the north, but comes down to the east and west of the church. It is laid out in a grid pattern, with narrow grassy unpaved roads offering access should a vehicle be needed.
Gravestones date from the 18th century to the present, with some particularly well-executed marble headstones from the early 19th century. To the immediate west of the church are some stone
vaults built into the rise.
Significant burials • Gen.
Samuel Blachley Webb (1753–1807). Led a
militia company from
Wethersfield, Connecticut, that saw action at
Bunker Hill. He became one of
George Washington's
aides-de-camp for six months, then went into combat again, at
Long Island,
White Plains and
Trenton, getting wounded at the latter two engagements. He was captured by the British in December 1777,
exchanged a year later, and settled in Claverack after the war. •
Jacob Rutsen Van Rensselaer, (1767–1835). A prominent
Federalist elected to nine terms in the
State Assembly, serving as that body's
speaker in his last. Left that position to commanded locally raised troops which guarded New York City during the
War of 1812. After the end of the war served as New York's Secretary of State and later an influential delegate to the state's 1821
constitutional convention. •
Harriet Livingston Dale (1785–1826).
Robert Fulton's widow moved to England after his death. After hers, her body was returned to Claverack for burial. ==History==