City: Yorktown
County: Westchester
State: NY
Description
2880 Crompond Road
Yorktown
Westchester County
New York USA
Cemetery notes and/or description:
Church was erected in 1738. It served as an army storehouse during the Revolutionary War, and was burned by the British in 1779. The current church on this site was erected in 1799.
The birth of the church in 1730 and cemetery was simply an assemblage that convened weekly for the worship of God.
A 220-acre tract was leased in 1737 and a meeting house was constructed in 1738.
Itinerant preachers provided worship leadership until the first resident pastor was called in 1761.
During the Revolutionary War, the church became an arsenal and barracks, and a meeting place for the patriots.
British troops destroyed the parsonage and storehouse in early June 1779, and burned the church to the ground shortly after.
After the war, a second church was built in 1785. There is a monument in front of the church, celebrating the all-black First Rhode Island Regiment, which figured prominently in the British raid in Yorktown in 1779.
Thanks to Gene Baumwoll for information about First Presbyterian's history.
