Historic Churches on New York State's Seaway Trail

The following list is a sampling of the unique and unusual churches to be found by traveling New York State’s Seaway Trail, one of America’s Byways. The collection includes beautifully built structures of cobblestone, limestone, brick, and wood; churches that were vital to the Underground Railroad, a seven-church courthouse square district, the oldest cobblestone church erected in North America, and
a spiritualist community. If you would like assistance in planning a trip to visit the churches of the Seaway Trail, please call 1-800-SEAWAY-T.

Churches are listed moving east to west; sites have been identified by using
Along the Trail & Into the Past, Architecture and History Along the New York State Seaway Trail* (seen left), prepared by Ann Hutchinson, 1986; and by research by
Seaway Trail Landscape Architect and Planner David Cutter, Seaway Trail Publicist
Kara Lynn Dunn, and the Trail’s 10 tourism promotion agents and historians.

* Sites listed in Along the Trail & Into the Past

St. Lawrence County

• Congregational Church, Church Street, Massena. c. 1850*
This simple Greek Revival building was constructed of red brick made at a kiln on Center Street, Massena. Renamed the Adath Israel Synagogue in 1921.

• Sacred Heart Church, 200 E. Orvis Street, Massena. 1925*
The English Gothic style church has a belfry and spire supported by buttresses. Parishioners gathered the gray fieldstones of which the walls are constructed.

• St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Main Street, Waddington. 1818*
St. Paul’s is the oldest church north of the Mohawk River. David Ogden applied to Trinity Church in New York City for aid in establishing the church in 1812. Daniel Whipple Church, builder of many stone houses and dams in the county, built St. Paul’s. The bell tower and windows were added in the mid-nineteenth century.
Contact: Nancy Putney, 315-388-5576, puttree@northnet.org

• St. Mary’s Cathedral, Ogdensburg - this National Historic Register site is said to have unique stained glass windows.

• Trinity Episcopal, Potsdam - visit www.potsdam.ny.us and click on churches for more info on this Gothic Revival style church and others

• The St. Lawrence County Historical Association, Canton, 315-386-8133, has archived information on Victorian stone churches, early church establishments, Gothic Federalist Churches (1845-1903), Trinity Chapel in Morley, Romanesque Revival churches, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church of Ogdensburg, and Beach Plains Church.

Note: Seaway Trail Amish Churches:
The east and west gateway counties (St. Lawrence and Chautauqua) to the Seaway Trail have strong Amish communities. A St. Lawrence County guide says “Each Amish church is distinct and self-defined, separate from not only the “English” or non-Amish community that surrounds it, but from most other Amish church-communities as well. The Seaway Trail Quilt Show at the Seaway Trail Discovery Center in Sackets Harbor in 2002 featured Amish quilts from St. Lawrence and Chautauqua Counties.

Jefferson County

• St. Peters Episcopal Church, Stein Road, Redwood. 1853*
The prominent American architect Richard Upjohn, whose work includes Trinity Church in New York City, designed this church. The Gothic Revival church features a steeply pitched roof, bell tower, and arched doorway and windows.

• St. Cyril’s Catholic Church, Walton Street, Alexandria Bay. 1922*
This Romanesque Revival church was constructed of native red granite quarried from the site. The stonecutters who constructed the church immigrated to Alexandria Bay from England.

• Reformed Church of the Thousand Isles, 54 Church Street, Alexandria Bay. 1848-1851* This stone church was the first built in Alexandria Bay. The side wing was added in 1923.

• First Universalist Church of Henderson, Harborview Road, Henderson. 1839*
This clapboard, vernacular church contains elements common to the Greek Revival style. Two entrances on the symmetrical façade include full transom and sidelights. The interior retains its golden oak wainscoting, a raised altar, lectern, pews and organ. Wallpaper above the wainscoting and on the ceiling is original.

• Zion Episcopal Church, Pierrepont Manor, Rev. Charles Henderson, 315-232-2916, 1835. Federal-style white clapboard, lot of 1.15 acres was purchased for $100, church built for $3000, a school built next door in 1856 is now the parish hall, a working
barrel pipe organ is one of the most unique early American organs in the U.S., arrived by canal boat and oxcart from New York City, Victorian embellishments added to church around 1860, wainscoting dates to about 1880, original stained glass windows are about mid-19th century, entered National Historic Register in 1977.

Oswego County

• First Baptist Church, Harwood Dr, Sandy Creek. 1917-1918.
Charles M. Salisbury, great-grandson of the church’s founder, donated the site for the church, designed the building, and arranged financing for construction. This distinctive octagon church is a rare surviving example of this building style, which is indigenous to the northeastern U.S. The concentric interior plan, intended to economize on the use of materials, offered a functional interior and unobstructed views.

• Grace Episcopal Church, Church St, Mexico. c. 1870.
Syracuse architect Horatio Nelson White designed this blue limestone church. The stained glass windows were donated at later dates.

• Bristol Hill Church, Volney
National Register site, significant to the Underground Railroad, congregation included both blacks and whites in the early 1840s, according to Oswego County Tourism Director Christine Gray, 315-349-8322

• Church of the Resurrection, Oswego, 1884
Was originally the parish house for Christ Church which was demolished in 1971, Gothic windows, diagonal and perpendicular siding, on the Heritage Foundation of Oswego (315-342-3354) Franklin Square Walking Tour Cayuga County

• Willard Memorial Chapel, Auburn
Two sisters commissioned Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany Glass Company to design the interior of this chapel in memory of their parents. This chapel is the only complete religious example of a Tiffany interior. The interior includes 14 opalescent nave windows, a nine-paneled Rose window, nine Mooresque-styled chandeliers, a large memorial mosaic bronze and gilt tablet, hard-carved furnishings of oak inlaid, a ceiling with gold leaf stencils, and mosaic flooring. Musical performances are played on the Chapel’s Steere-Turner tracker style organ.

• Fort Hill Cemetery, Auburn, is Harriet Tubman’s resting place.

• St. Matthew’s Church, Moravia has extraordinary Bavarian Oak carvings, Millard Fillmore was married here.

Wayne County

• North Ontario United Methodist Church, Ontario
This church joins other buildings from a 19th century crossroads community as part of Heritage Square at Brick Church Corners, an historic district, www.ggw.org/heritagesquare, 315-524-5356

Monroe County

• Quaker Meeting House, c. 1854 and St. Feehan’s Roman Catholic Church, c. 1854
These churches are among 57 historic buildings recreating a 19th-century village at
Genesee Country Village and Museum, Mumford, 585-538-6822, www.gcv.org.

• Our Mother of Sorrows Church, Rochester
Now a library at Mt. Read Blvd and Latta Rd, this church served on Underground Railroad.

• A Rochester walking tour of historic architecture includes churches, 585-546-2338.

• St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, 17 S. Fitzhugh St., Rochester. 1824
This oldest surviving public building in Rochester was built beside the Erie Canal, now Broad Street. Designed by New York architect Josiah R. Brady, it is an unusually early example of 19th century Gothic Revival style. Although its rectangular plan, pedimented gable and slightly projecting tower conform to the then-popular New England meetinghouse style, its pointed windows, pinnacles and many interior details are of Gothic origin.

• Central Church of Christ, 101 S. Plymouth Avenue, Rochester. 1871.
With its tall spire and slate roof, this English Gothic church once sheltered the oldest religious congregation in Rochester. Constructed of Albion and Medina stone, the church was designed by noted Rochester architect Andrew Jackson Warner. The interior is notable for its Tiffany windows, as well as its black walnut paneling and pews.

• First Universalist Church, Washington Square, Rochester. 1908.
This church is the most important remaining work of prominent local architect Claude Bragdon. Its central plan, stained glass windows, ceramic tile and terra cotta details recall Lombard-style churches of northern Italy. The interior, enhanced by furniture and lighting fixtures designed by Bragdon, is noteworthy for its use of structural steel as a design element.

• First Unitarian Church, Rochester. 1962.
Designed by internationally renowned architect Louis I. Kahn. Four towers at the corners of the sanctuary bring natural light into the central room.

• Friends Meeting House, Genesee Country Museum. 1854.
This one-story frame meeting house built by the Quakers was moved from the Town of Wheatland to the museum in 1967 and restored.

• Mt. Hope Cemetery, Rochester - Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass are buried here.Orleans County

• Seven-Church Crossroads, Courthouse Square District, Albion
A National Registry property featuring seven churches surrounding the square, Universalist Church was built by George Pullman, manufacturer of the rail sleeping car.

• Cobblestone Museum Complex, Childs/Albion, 585-589-9013 or 585-589-2473
The oldest cobblestone church erected in North America is part of the Cobblestone Museum Complex. The church built in 1834 stands near a cobblestone parsonage (Ward House, c. 1840) once owned by Horace Greeley and a one-room country schoolhouse. Four other buildings complete the complex. George Pullman attended this church.

Niagara County

• National Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Fatima, Lewiston, www.fatimashrine.com,
716-754-7489 - Since 1954, glassdome, Avenue of Saints has 100+ lifesize statues of statues, Rosary Pool, 13’ tall statue of Our Lady of Fatima carved from Vermont granite, 20 acres of gardens

• Artpark in the Church, Lewiston, www.artpark.net, 716-754-4375, hosts theatre performances

• Methodist Church, corner of Ridge and Cambria-Wilson Road, Town of Cambria. 1848. One of the most beautiful cobblestone structures in western New York, this church was built for the Methodist society in 1848. It is constructed of field grade cobblestones with a Greek Revival style.

• First Presbyterian Church and Village cemetery, Cayuga and S. 5th Streets, Lewiston. 1835. The cellars of this church were used for the Underground Railroad.

• Historic Wedding Chapels - Niagara County Tourism, 800-338-7890, www.niagara-usa.com

Erie County

• St. Paul’s Episcopal Cathedral, Buffalo. 1849-1851.
Across from the Guaranty Building, this church is a serene reminder of what, throughout the middle of the 19th century, was one of Buffalo’s finer residential neighborhoods. St. Paul, a Gothic Revival English-style church, was designed by Richard Upjohn. Built of sandstone, its pointed arches, narrow steeple, soft lines and rose window are a curious combination of gothic and romanesque. A wonderful Tiffany-style stained glass window is on the left as you enter the church.

• St Joseph’s Cathedral, 68 Franklin Street, Buffalo. 1851-1855.
This structure, built of local gray limestone, was designed by Patrick Keeley, an Irish immigrant turned New York City architect, for a largely Irish mid-19th century community. The model for the church was the French medieval cathedral with façade, tower, rose window and triple portals. Above the main altar are three stained glass windows portraying the “Incarnation”, “Redemption” and “Resurrection”, gifts to Bishop Timon from King Ludwig of Bavaria.

• Our Lady of Victory Basilica and National Shrine, Lackawanna, www.ourladyofvictory.org, 716-828-9444 - Shrine was built in the 15th and 16th century Renaissance style with French Baroque interior, copper-topped dome, twin towers circled by four angels.

• Michigan Avenue Baptist Church, Buffalo, 1846-49
Founded in 1839 by 33 members of the first black congregation in Buffalo, served on the Underground Railroad

Chautauqua County

• Hall of Christ, Chautauqua Institution. 1909.
Designed in the classical eclectic style by Paul J. Pelz, designer of the Library of
Congress, the Hall of Christ is the result of Bishop Vincent’s dream to create a memorial to and center for the study of Christ. Two 1,000-pound cornerstones from Jerusalem, each filled with Chautauqua artifacts, were set in place in 1900.

• Lily Dale Spiritualist Community, Lily Dale, NY, 716-595-8721

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