First church Peter Minuit "had
Kryn Frederick, the Company's engineer, build a solid fort ... called
Fort Amsterdam. It was surrounded by cedar palisades, and was large enough to shelter all the people of the little colony in case of danger. Inside this fort there was a house for the Governor, and outside the walls was a warehouse for furs, and a mill which was run by horse-power, with a large room on the second floor to be used as a church."
1633 church The congregation's first church building, built on what is now
Pearl Street in
New York City facing the
East River, to replace services held in lofts, was a simple timber structure with a gambrel roof and no spire. By 1638, when
Willem Kieft became director, "The fort was almost in ruins from neglect. The church was in little better condition. The mills were so out of repair that even if the wind could have reached them they could not have been made to do their work properly."
c.1643 church The second church was located within
Fort Amsterdam's walls. The stone church had a spire with weathercock, and was the tallest structure in the city. After the fall of New Amsterdam to the English, the structure was reused as a military garrison church for the Anglican faith. – which was probably the reason the church was moved into the fort in the first place – and where the banished shipwreck survivor
Cornelis Melyn returned and caused a writ from the States General to be presented to
Petrus Stuyvesant on March 8, 1649. As Burton describes the confrontation:
1693 Garden Street Church The Garden Street Church, located on what is now Exchange Place, was built to replace the garrison church after its appropriation by the authorities. The congregation was granted a full charter as the Dutch Church in America by
King William III of England on May 19, 1696.
1769 North Church In 1769, to serve the needs of a growing congregation, the North Church was established. It is located within the
East Village/Lower East Side Historic District, created in October 2012. It housed the New York Liberty Bell. A fire in December 2020 significantly damaged the facility.
1892 West End Collegiate Church The West End Collegiate Church, located at the northeast corner of
West End Avenue and
West 77th Street was built 1891-92, to the design of Robert W. Gibson.
1909 Fort Washington Collegiate Church The Fort Washington Collegiate Church at 470 Fort Washington Avenue began as an outreach of the West End Collegiate Church. The church was built in 1908-09 and was designed by the firm of Nelson & Van Wagenen in the
Country Gothic style. In 1916, it became a full member of the Collegiate Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, along with the Marble, Middle and West End Collegiate Churches. It incorporates the congregation of the Hamilton Grange Reformed Church and former members of the Harlem Reformed Dutch Church. ==References==