{"nrhp_refnum":"66000580","name":"St. Paul's Church National Historic Site","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"Eastchester","address_restricted":false,"city":"Mount Vernon","county":"Westchester County","state":"NY","lat":40.89326862200005,"lon":-73.82560312199996,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Law","Politics/Government","Architecture"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"St. Paul's Church is a fieldstone colonial church in Mount Vernon (Eastchester), Westchester County, New York, begun in 1765 on the site of an earlier parish founded in 1665 and completed around 1787-1790.","why_significant":"It is tied to the development of Bill of Rights freedoms, including the 1733 Eastchester election that led to John Peter Zenger's press-freedom trial. It also served as a hospital after the 1776 Battle of Pell's Point and as a courthouse. It was declared a National Historic Site in 1943.","narrative":"St. Paul's Church in Mount Vernon, New York, is a colonial fieldstone church begun in 1763-1765 using local fieldstone and timber, with mortar made from Eastchester Creek shells, Long Island lime and churchyard sand. It replaced an earlier parish structure, with the parish dating to 1665. The site is linked to early American freedoms. The Great Election of 1733 was held on the adjoining village green, and printer John Peter Zenger's account of it led to his trial and the principle of a free press. During the Revolution, Hessian soldiers wounded at the Battle of Pell's Point in 1776 were sheltered here, and many are buried in the churchyard. The building later served as a courthouse where Aaron Burr practiced. Declared a National Historic Site in 1943, it was restored to colonial appearance, passed to the National Park Service in 1980, and now includes a Bill of Rights Museum in the former carriage shed.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"A brochure states the building is a restored colonial church that no longer holds services and houses a Bill of Rights Museum in its former carriage shed. The National Park Service took ownership in 1980 and the site is operated under a cooperative agreement.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.139497-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/66000580.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000580/a665913cdd-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000580/a665913cdd-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Anthony22 (talk). Original uploader was Anthony22 at en.wikipedia","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Paul%27s_Church_National_Historic_Site.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Anthony22 (talk). Original uploader was Anthony22 at en.wikipedia</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Saint_Paul%27s_Church_National_Historic_Site.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75323239","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul%27s_Church_National_Historic_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7402012"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/westchester-county/st-pauls-church-national-historic-site-66000580/"}