“Built in 1833 atop the knob of a hill that over­looks the vil­lage of Dobbs Ferry, Zion Epis­co­pal Church was once known as the “Mother of Churches” in the lower Hud­son Val­ley. It was in­stru­men­tal in the found­ing of Christ Epis­co­pal Church in Tar­ry­town, Grace Epis­co­pal Church in Hast­ings-on-Hud­son and the Church of St. Barn­abas in Irv­ing­ton. Now Gov­er­nor An­drew Cuomo has rec­om­mended it among 18 his­toric prop­er­ties to join the Reg­is­ter of His­toric Places.

It is the old­est sur­viv­ing Gothic Re­vival style house of wor­ship in Westch­ester. Its older (1783) Rec­tory is be­lieved to be the old­est sur­viv­ing build­ing in Dobbs Ferry. Its fea­tures in­clude but­tresses, qua­tre­foils and Gothic arches. Its ex­te­rior is made from the Grey­stone so fa­mil­iar along the Hud­son River front.

“We are over the moon,” says Les­ley Yu Wal­ter, a mem­ber of the church’s cur­rent vestry af­ter learn­ing of their se­lec­tion.

Along with its ar­chi­tec­ture, the church has a his­tory filled with fa­mil­iar names. Both James and Alexan­der Hamil­ton Jr. once sat on its vestry, as did Wash­ing­ton Irv­ing, who was also a vestry­man at Christ Church Tar­ry­town. The Rev­erend William McVickar, who even­tu­ally built St. Barn­abas in Irv­ing­ton, was its Rec­tor and de­signed the church’s first ex­ten­sion. McVickar and Irv­ing were good friends who of­ten dined to­gether.

The land on which the church was built orig­i­nally be­longed to the Liv­ingston fam­ily, whose prop­er­ties and manses run well up the Hud­son Val­ley. Pe­ter Van Brugh Liv­ingston, who had been a parish­ioner at the South Pres­by­ter­ian Church (then on Ash­ford Av­enue), fell out with the Pres­by­te­ri­ans over the is­sue of tem­per­ance (he be­ing ab­stemious) and do­nated the prop­erty to the Epis­co­palians.

Zion has long since em­braced pro­gres­sive val­ues. It was one of the first Epis­co­pal churches in the coun­try to or­dain women.” (Hudson Independent, September 14, 2020. Dobbs Ferry’s Zion Episcopal Church Nominated for State and National Registers of Historic Places)

“The parish hall was probably built in 1875 and may have served as a horse barn. In 1885, the parish hall was faced with stone and dedicated in honor of The Reverend George Reese who had served as rector from 1865 until his death in 1885.

The ground floor of the parish hall has served as the location of the Hillside Thrift Shop for over fifty years.” (Zion Episcopal Church website).

“The rectory was purchased in 1865 as a home for the rector and his family. Owned by a Hudson River ship captain, John Smith, it was built in 1783 and is one of the oldest homes in the Village of Dobbs Ferry.

In 1870, the rectory was enlarged by adding two rooms on each floor and a third story. In 1876, a new stucco exterior was added to the building and the mansard roof was installed.

Currently church offices, a classroom, and a parlor with small kitchen occupy the first floor with living space for the clergy upstairs and for the sextons on the ground floor.” (Zion Episcopal Church website)

Taken with a Fuji X-E3 and Fuji XC 16-50mm f3.5-5.6 OSS II