28. Coeymans Dutch Reformed Church
24 Church Street

28. Coeymans Dutch Reformed Church
24 Church Street
(Former) Reformed Protestant Dutch Church
1840
A two-story, four-by-four bay brick, gable-fronted Greek Revival style church. The building is distinguished by a projecting entry bay and engaged central bell tower. The tower rises two stages above the gable, which is highlighted by a fully pediment and modillion cornice. The cornice is supported by broad brick pilasters. Centered on this elevation is a dedication plaque which reads Reformed Dutch Church, Erected D. 1840, S.D. Lamalla Arch. Victorian era window sash with hammered and color banded glazing as well as several figurative and geometric stained glass units survive intact. The entry bay featured a pair of entry doors now replaced with smaller utilitarian metal slab units. A recent mobility access ramp now obscures part of the lower facade.

The story of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Coeymans begins in the late 1700s, when Dutch families living along the Hudson River gathered for worship in one of Albany County's earliest frontier settlements. Deeply rooted in the traditions of the Dutch Reformed faith, the congregation became both a spiritual center and a record keeper for generations of local families. Baptisms recorded from 1788 onward preserve the names of many of the area's earliest settlers, including the Ten Eycks, Houghtalings, Van Der Zees, Witbecks, Bronks, Verplanks, and Huycks.

The church formally organized in the 1790s, with early ministers such as Rev. Jacob Sichels, Peter Overbaugh, Rev. Ralph A. Westervelt, and Rev. S. Kissam serving the scattered farming communities of Coeymans and the surrounding countryside. Church officers were elected from among respected local citizens, and the congregation quickly became a cornerstone of community life. In an era before town halls or public institutions were common, the church functioned as a place of worship, a meeting house, and a social center for the growing settlement.

As the congregation expanded, members sought a permanent house of worship worthy of the thriving Dutch community. On April 4, 1840, land on the north side of Church Street hill was purchased from Herman Jenkins and his wife Elizabeth. Four months later, builders Smith D. Lamatta and Lewis Crandall of Greene County were contracted to construct a substantial 40-by-50-foot brick church for the sum of $2,450. The building reflected the prosperity and permanence of the congregation and stood as a visible symbol of Coeymans' Dutch heritage overlooking the village.

The pews of the new church were officially sold in March 1846, a common practice of the period that helped finance church operations and maintenance. That same year, the congregation reaffirmed its incorporation under the title "Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Coeymans." Generations of weddings, baptisms, funerals, and Sunday services would take place within its brick walls, tying the church inseparably to the history of the town itself.

Today, the records of the church remain an invaluable window into the early history of southern Albany County. Preserved through the efforts of the Ravena Coeymans Historical Society, these documents trace nearly every prominent family connected to Coeymans during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. More than a church history, the records tell the story of an entire community shaped by Dutch traditions, river commerce, agriculture, and faith along the Hudson River.

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