New Lots Reformed Church
630 New Lots Avenue | also 612 New Lots Avenue | East New York | built 1970
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1821
New Lots farmers decide to build a church and season storm-felled oaks for its timber
In 1821 the farmers of New Lots, a small community among farms and part of Flatbush, decided to build their own church. Brownstoner's account says a hurricane had knocked down many oak trees, which the thrifty congregation harvested and let season for almost two years before cutting the lumber into boards.
Source: brownstoner.com
- 1823
Volunteers raise the New Lots church in a building bee for a reported $35
In May 1823 people came from near and far for a building bee on a quarter acre at New Lots Road and Schenck Avenue, donated by local landowners Abraham and Cornelia Van Siclen. The volunteers built the church by their own effort alone, at a cost reported to be only $35.
Source: brownstoner.com
- 1824
The wooden church is completed, with pegged timbers and an octagonal belfry
The Landmarks Preservation Commission called the building an outstanding small rural clapboard church of the late Federal period with early Gothic Revival details, architecturally unique in New York City for a wood church of its period. Its timbers are notched, jointed and held by pegs, four tall pointed-arch windows line each side, and an octagonal belfry with a cupola roof rises from a square base. Stained glass has since replaced the clear glass.
“Other houses of worship are older, but none, built of wood, has stood so long unchanged in its original form.”
- 1841
The present New Lots cemetery is established beside the church
Beside the church is a cemetery in two sections. The older one dates to the 17th century and holds the burials of Revolutionary War soldiers and enslaved people, while the present cemetery was established in 1841.
“The older section dates to the 17th century and includes burials of Revolutionary War soldiers and slaves. The present cemetery was established in 1841.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1966
The Landmarks Commission designates the New Lots church after three witnesses testify for it
At the February 8, 1966 hearing three witnesses spoke in favor of designation. The Commission's report, dated July 19, 1966, called the church an enduring expression of faith and an asset to its community, noted that it was still used for worship, and designated both the building and its lot.
- 1990
A cracked truss beam makes the church unusable until it reopens in 1991
In 1990 the building began to lean after a large truss beam cracked, and it was declared unusable until fixed. The congregation raised the money for the repair, holding services in the neighboring community center meanwhile, and the church reopened in 1991. Brownstoner calls this the only structural change to the building.
Source: brownstoner.com
Further reading
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