Seriously Endangered Church of The Holy Innocents

 

In 1850, Albany lumber baron William H. DeWitt built a memorial to four of his children who died quite young.  In addition to a splendid marble tombstone in the Albany Rural Cemetery, DeWitt also erected a little stone church in their memory; the Church of the Holy Innocents.

Built at the corner of North Pearl and Colonie Streets, it was a short walk from the DeWitt home to the church which was designed by Frank Wills.  In the 1860s, a matching chapel was added to the south side; this addition designed by Edward Ogden and William L. Woolett.

Holy Innocents served as an Episcopal church until the late 1940s.  Until 1980, it was home to a Russian Orthodox congregation (hence the distinctive blue "onion dome" which replaced the original steeple and bell around 1960.

Vacant since 1980 and currently owned by Hope House, this beautiful building has suffered greatly from neglect.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and cited by the Historic Albany Foundation as one of the city's most endangered buildings, it is also one of the oldest church structures in Albany.  

 

Yesterday, the rear wall of the church collapsed.  Despite the damage and the decades of neglect, Historic Albany Foundation states that the building can be stabilized and saved.

Albany is one of the oldest and most historic cities in the United States, but much of our tangible history has been lost to neglect and demolition.  Several years ago, the equally historic Trinity Church was demolished after part of the structure caved in. 

Please, let's not lose the Church of The Holy Innocents, too.  Call the City of Albany and let them know this historic church must be stabilized and saved, not reduced to yet another empty lot and yet another empty hole in the city's cultural and historic fabric.

Office of The Mayor, City of Albany - 518-434-5100
Hope House (current owners of the site) - 518-482-4673 - Kevin Connally, Executive Director


Photos are from the Albany...The Way It Was collection on Flickr

Albany...The Way It Was Facebook Group
Albany...The Way It Was on Flickr

Times Union article

Links To Look At

Today's All Over Albany post has some excellent recommendations for local history books. Having read quite a few of these myself, I heartily second their suggestions.

All Over Albany Holiday Gift Guide - Local History

Also, for those of you on Facebook who'd like to discuss local history, you might want to join this new group founded by Don Rittner.

Capital District, New York - History and Culture

Welcome to Albany (NY) History

Greetings and welcome to a new blog focusing on the long and varied history of Albany, New York. For the better part of a year, I've been keeping a blog of photos taken around this city - "from the random to the historic." And I've noticed that the historic posts have generated an excellent response from readers.

Don't worry...Albany (NY) Photo Daily isn't going away! But this new blog is a spin-off specifically focusing on Albany history. It will give me a chance to expand on some of the topics posted previously to the Photo Daily blog, as well as to post updates about historic-themed events, exhibits, and the like...and to occasionally highlight people and places from the surrounding area.

I also hope to interact more with people who share an interest in local history. I really enjoy the comments, e-mails, and other feedback I've been receiving so far and I hope to expand this project to include a message board and a web site to act as a central hub for all things relating to local history.

I'm always open to suggestions for topics, recommended events, links, books. Feel free to e-mail me at paula.lemire@yahoo.com

Oh, and, please, spread the word!