Guilford Center Presbyterian Church, Guilford Center New York

Date added: October 02, 2023 Categories: New York Church

The Guilford Center Presbyterian Church was founded within a decade of Guilford Center's settlement and early members included many New Englanders who had recently emigrated to central New York. The building is the product of three building periods: its heavy timber frame and stone foundation survive from the original 1817 construction; the majority of the exterior design and tower reflect an 1855 expansion, and its facade and interior plan are the product of a c1896 redesign. As it exists today, the exterior of the church embodies elements of the Greek Revival style ubiquitous in central New York in the mid-nineteenth century. Typical characteristics include the rectangular form, broad gable roof, wide frieze, raking cornice and three-stage tower. Its facade and interior, particularly the corner entrance, open auditorium plan, horizontal platform, and curved seating reflect popular trends in Protestant church architecture at the end of the nineteenth century intended to provide a comfortable space for worship that would engage the congregation and encourage its participation in the service.

At the close of the American Revolution, a significant number of veterans began to settle on the lands west of the Unadilla River. Permanent European-American settlement began in the 1790s. In 1798, Chenango County was formed from parts of Herkimer and Tioga counties, and in 1805, the northern portion of Chenango became Madison County. The town of Guilford was formed on 3 April 1813 from the eastern half of the town of Fayette. For this reason, the town was known as "Eastern" until 1817, when it acquired its current name. When Guilford was divided off, the western half of Fayette was renamed Oxford.

The development of the town of Guilford was influenced by several important transportation routes. In 1790, General Benjamin Hovey, of Oxford Massachusetts, was engaged by New York State to open a road from the hamlet of Rockdale (in the town of Guilford) to Cayuga Lake, near Ithaca. This was the first turnpike in the town of Guilford. It was followed by the Butternuts Turnpike and the Oxford-Guilford Turnpike (also known as the Old State Road). Both Hovey's Turnpike and the Oxford-Guilford Turnpike connected with the Catskill-Susquehanna Turnpike, a major east-west route from the Hudson River through Greene, Delaware, and Otsego Counties to Sidney.

The hamlet of Guilford Center, one of ten hamlets that sprang up in the township by 1800, was located strategically at the intersection of the Butternuts Turnpike, the Oxford-Guilford Turnpike and a northern branch of the Kingston-Delaware Turnpike. Located on the Guilford Creek, the hamlet's early settlers were primarily New Englanders, including Caleb Mann, Henry Smith, brothers Rufus, Horace and William Baldwin, and others. A tavern was established in the hamlet by 1809. One of the hamlet's most notable institutions was the Guilford Center Academy, established in 1827 by 159 subscribers. In 1828 a substantial building was constructed for the academy, which existed until 1844. The school building was later reused as a district schoolhouse. In 1841 the hamlet, then Guilford, was renamed Guilford Center to distinguish it from another village that had recently assumed the name Guilford. By 1880, the village, population sixty-one, had two churches, a school, grocery, shoe and harness shops, tailor shop and a hotel building that was no longer in use.

One of Guilford Center's most famous residents was Daniel S. Dickinson. Dickinson's family relocated from Connecticut to a farm about one and one-half miles from Guilford Center. The Dickinsons taught local children in their home. Daniel Dickinson and his wife, Lydia Knapp, were both teachers and leaders in the drive to establish the academy. Dickinson went on to practice law, first in Guilford Center and later in Binghamton, where he began a career in politics. Dickinson served as a New York State senator, state judge, lieutenant governor, and attorney general. Later he became a US. senator and served as a federal attorney general.

Dickinson played a leading role in the development of central New York. He was an advocate for expansion of the state's railroad and canal system, and he was among the first national leaders to call for federal aid to local education. The Dickinson family supported the proposal to construct a Presbyterian church in Guilford Center and, as a boy, the young Daniel Dickinson participated in the construction of the first church building.

During the 1780s and 90s, the town of Guilford was served by traveling clergymen, including Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Methodists, some from as far away as Connecticut and Massachusetts. In 1807, Samuel Mills settled on a farm near Guilford. A religious man, Deacon Mills was intent on starting a church in the town. On 26 September 1807, a Presbyterian society was established at a meeting held in the Guilford Center schoolhouse, and Daniel Johnson and Daniel Savage were chosen as officers. As recorded in the Chenango Court of Common Pleas, the new organization was the Second Associated Presbyterian Society in the town of Oxford. After the town separated from Oxford, the society followed suit, renaming itself the First Congregation Society in the town of Eastern in 1814. On 21 January 1879, it was rededicated as the Guilford Center Presbyterian Church.

Religious services were held in a variety of locations, among them a barn and a schoolhouse. Deacon Mills, who was instrumental in establishing the first religious services, led the early services when no minister was present. In 1816 Jesse Whiting became the second deacon; his son Julius was the first chorister. A Sunday school was started as early as 1819. Among the early pastors were the Rev. Asa Donaldson, who admitted 138 members and was paid in both cash and commodities (butter, pork, wheat, rye, etc.), the Rev. Leverett, who admitted 129 new members, and the Rev. John Fowler, who was influential in encouraging Daniel Dickinson to pursue higher education. Church members were not limited to residents of Guilford Center but included residents of the town and some of the surrounding hamlets. Among them were Samuel and Lucy Mills, Daniel and Lydia Savage, John Nash, Edward Robbins, Daniel and Mary Johnson, Rachel Skinner, and Lucinda Whiting. Many of these early church members had arrived in the region in the 1790s and most were New Englanders from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Connecticut.

Construction of the church building began in 1816. As Daniel Dickinson later recalled, the "church structure was erected more by contributions of labor than money...." The shell of the building was completed early in 1817 and it was put into use immediately, even though the interior remained unfinished for several years. According to lore, a carpenter's bench served as the first pulpit and rough wooden planks were used as the pews. In 1820, a minister from the Delaware County community of Sidney donated funds raised at a revival to complete the work, including painting and plastering. A stove was purchased in 1822. The total cost of the building was $1,700. The 1816 church, apparently modeled on one in the village of Deposit, Delaware County, was a rectangular meeting house, forty feet by fifty feet. While the original appearance of the Guilford Center church is not known, the interior was described as having a balcony along three sides, facing the pulpit, which was on the eastern wall of the building.

In 1855, the church was enlarged and substantially redesigned at a cost of $3,000. The building was first dismantled to the frame and the balcony was removed. Ten feet were added to the western end of the building and a basement was dug. The addition constituted a completely new facade. The 1855 facade exemplified the distyle in antis form, a variation of the Greek Revival style popularized by a number of sources, including the works of Asher Benjamin, whose works provided models for local American carpenter-builders. The distyle in antis form is marked by a recessed porch flanked by enclosed bays and pilasters. There were generally three entrances to the auditorium located within the porch. Typically, there were also entrances on the inside walls of the enclosed bays. These usually provided access to stairs to the gallery, which was accessible only from the exterior. Alternately, the enclosed bays were sometimes used for storage.

Evidence of the Guilford Center church's 1855 appearance comes from a c1870 photo in which the facade is partially obscured by trees. The recessed porch, enclosed end bays, and exterior entrance into the south bay are clearly visible; however, facade details such as pilasters can not be seen. Other Greek Revival features were apparently added at this time. These include the wide frieze, raking cornice, and three-stage tower, all of which survive. There is no record of the interior design of the 1855 church. By c1880, church membership was 234.

The appearance of the church changed substantially once again at the end of the nineteenth century, when the porch was enclosed and new fenestration was created on the facade. This change probably occurred in 1896, when records indicate that a prayer room and a kitchen were added. The prayer room, ten feet deep, fills the space formerly occupied by the recessed porch and north enclosed bay, while the kitchen is in the basement below it. The main entrance to the church was also relocated, to a single door in the south bay of the facade, while double doors in the center provided access to the prayer room. The window in the north bay lights the prayer room and those in the upper story serve an enclosed meeting room (former rear gallery). The stained-glass, all in a consistent geometric pattern typical of the period, was probably installed as part of this redesign. There were two early twentieth-century changes to the building: the addition of a side entrance to the basement and a new metal roof. With the exception of the addition of a handicapped-accessible porch and the application of aluminum siding to the tower, the exterior of the church is intact to the c1896 period.

As redesigned in 1896, the Guilford church has a corner entrance that leads to a small vestibule with Victorian-era finishes such as beaded board and pressed metal. This vestibule is also the location of the stairs to the gallery (and basement). Although the orientation and decorative features of this stair indicate a late nineteenth-century date, it probably occupies the location of an 1855 stair in the enclosed bay. What is now an interior door between the corner vestibule and the payer room is probably the original exterior entrance from the recessed porch to the enclosed bay and stairs. A third door in the vestibule, the location of an original entrance from the exterior, provides access to the auditorium. The Schlafar prayer room is finished with contemporary materials; however, the original double entrance doors between the lobby and the auditorium have been preserved.

The interior of the church clearly illustrates a plan popular for Protestant congregations, especially Presbyterian, at the end of the nineteenth century and was probably redesigned as part of the 1896 building program. Reflecting changes that grew out of religious revivalism, Protestant churches of this period were constructed with open plans and comfortable interiors intended to engage the congregation and encourage its participation in the service. The revival movement emphasized the individual conversion experience and the role of the preacher shifted from an objective interpreter of scripture to a personal advocate for conversion. As such, revivalist preachers generally rejected high pulpits in favor of smaller lecterns and horizontal platforms that shifted the authority to the preacher and provided a stage on which he or she could move about actively in an effort to facilitate the personal conversion process. Corner entrances were common and auditoriums were designed as open spaces with unobstructed sight lines and circular seating oriented toward a platform with a center or corner pulpit. Interiors were often designed to include smaller rooms that could be opened to the auditorium or divided off to provide space for Sunday schools or other gatherings. Although there have been contemporary cosmetic changes to the interior of the nominated church, including the addition of paneling and an acoustical tile ceiling in the 1960s, its surviving elements, including the corner entrance, small prayer room, open auditorium, low platform, curved pews, and Victorian era furniture, clearly illustrate the popular period model.

Although the church had three different parsonages, none of them has been associated with the church in the last century. In addition, horse sheds visible in the 1870 photo were lost in 1927. The Guilford Center Presbyterian Church has experienced a number of changes over its long history. While the extant building retains some evidence of each period, it is virtually unchanged since its last redesign, which occurred more than a century ago.

Building Description

The Guilford Center Presbyterian Church is located on the east side of CR 36 in the small hamlet of Guilford Center, New York. Guilford Center is located in the center of the town of Guilford, which is on the eastern edge of Chenango County. East of the town of Guilford, the Unadilla River flows north-south along the Chenango County line, forming the boundary with Otsego County. County Routes 37, 35, and 36 are the major east-west and north-south routes through the town, and Guilford Center developed around the intersection of CR 35 and 36. The church occupies a small parcel at the village crossroads just north of this intersection.

The Guilford Center Presbyterian Church is a large, one-and-one-half-story rectangular wood-frame building, five bays long and three bays wide. The church is built into the hillside on a cut-stone foundation and is surmounted by a broad gable roof with metal cladding and a three-stage tower with spire. The facade (including the pediment) is clad in flush-board siding, while the other elevations feature wooden clapboard. The building features a wide freeze and a raking cornice. There are four narrow full-height rectangular windows within flat wooden frames on each of the side elevations; there are no openings on the rear elevation. The facade features a center entrance flanked by a single door and a double-hung window; above this is a double window flanked by single windows. The middle (entrance) bay is set off by a projecting curved molding and two small medallions. The center entrance consists of double wooden paneled doors surmounted by a transom. The doors and transom are set within a narrow surround with a projecting lintel. The entrance in the south bay is similar except that it features a single door. Second-story facade windows extend into the frieze and feature lintels that are wider (sides) and pedimented (center). There is a full-width wooden porch across the facade with three sets of stairs and a two-leg ramp. The three stages of the tower are graduated in size. The lowest stage has no openings, which the second and third stages have louvered openings on all four sides. A full entablature separates each stage. The short spire is hexagonal and surmounted by a finial. The tower has recently been clad in aluminum siding. On the south elevation, a small pavilion with gabled roof shelters the access to the basement.

The church is the product of three distinct building periods. The original building, forty feet by fifty feet, was constructed in 1817. Although there is no record of its appearance, it was probably a simple meeting house. In 1855, this building was dismantled to the frame, the length of the building was expanded by ten feet (on the western elevation), a new facade was designed, a basement dug, and the tower added. As shown in historic photos, the 1855 facade was an example of the popular distyle in-antis form, a variation of the Greek Revival style. This form was characterized by a recessed porch flanked by enclosed bays. The main entrances to the auditorium were within the recessed porch, while the gallery was accessed by exterior entrances located in the enclosed bays. An 1870 photo of the Guilford church shows the recessed porch, enclosed end bays, and an exterior entrance to the enclosed south bay. The last major exterior change probably occurred in 1896. At this time, the recessed porch was enclosed to create a small entrance vestibule and a prayer room. New fenestration, including center and side doors and windows on two levels, was created on the facade. In 2003, the porch and handicapped ramp was constructed.

The interior of the church reflects the 1896 redesign and recent cosmetic changes. The main entrance to the church is the single door in the east bay of the facade. This leads to a small vestibule with beaded board and pressed-metal finishes. The vestibule is also the location of stairs to the upper level and to the basement. The orientation and decorative motifs of the stair identify it as a late-nineteenth-century feature; however, it probably occupies the location of an 1855 stair to the gallery. There are two interior doors in the vestibule. To the immediate left of the entrance is a door that provides access to the adjacent prayer room. This is probably the original exterior access to the 1855 stair. Opposite the entrance is the door to the auditorium. This is probably one of the 1855 entrances to the building from the recessed porch.

The space adjacent to the vestibule on the north is occupied by the Schlafer prayer room, which is ten feet deep and was created by enclosing the recessed porch in 1896. The prayer room is accessed from the outside via the double wooden doors in the center of the facade. The prayer room features contemporary finishes and preserves the original double entrances to the building (now the double doors between the lobby and the auditorium).

The rest of the interior space is the auditorium. The auditorium is a product of the 1896 remodeling. Accessed from a corner entrance, the auditorium is an open undivided space with three sets of curved pews oriented to the wide platform and pulpit. Original features include the pews, platform, pulpit, and furniture. Windows feature colored glass in geometric patterns that reflects the same turn-of-the-twentieth-century aesthetic. Recent cosmetic changes include paneling on the walls, an acoustical tile ceiling, and lights. The half-story (originally a gallery) is a finished room. There is a full basement that includes a kitchen, which is under the prayer room, a large open meeting room, and restrooms.

Original horse sheds, once located on the northwestern corner of the property, burned in 1927. There have been three parsonages associated with this church over the years; however, none of them has been associated with the church for more than a century.