{"nrhp_refnum":"74001214","name":"First Reformed Church","other_names":["North Dutch Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"56 Orange St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Albany","county":"Albany County","state":"NY","lat":42.65586074400005,"lon":-73.74866048399997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1974-01-21","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture","Religion"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"First Church in Albany (Reformed), also called the North Dutch Church, is a brick church at 56 Orange Street at North Pearl Street and Clinton Square in Albany, New York. It was built in 1797-1798 to designs by Philip Hooker and Elisha Putnam, and has been altered several times since.","why_significant":"The church is the historic focus of much of Albany's Dutch heritage and a long-lived city landmark. Despite heavy alterations, it is an important landmark in the career of architect Philip Hooker, whose earliest known major work it is. It is one of the few Hooker buildings surviving in Albany.","narrative":"Standing on high ground at North Pearl Street and Clinton Square in Albany, this brick church was completed in 1798 for a Dutch Reformed congregation organized in 1634 at Fort Orange. Philip Hooker, then a young local architect, designed it with builder Elisha Putnam, and the congregation spared little expense, even covering the roof in tin. Two three-tiered towers flank the front. The central section, with a stone arcade of three round arches, was added in an 1858 renovation by Steinwehr and Hodgins, which also brought a vaulted ceiling and stained glass. John Boardman enlarged the rear in 1830, and the west wing was rebuilt again in 1858 and 1939. The church was first called the North Church; a South Church formed in 1814, and the two reunited in 1938. It is the focus of much of Albany's Dutch heritage and is Hooker's earliest known major work, one of few of his buildings still standing in the city.","period_of_significance":"1798","architect_builder":"Philip Hooker (architect) and Elisha Putnam (builder); later alterations by John Boardman (1830) and Steinwehr and Hodgins (1858)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied, in excellent condition and in religious use; altered, on its original site.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:39.094385-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/74001214.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001214/d0d574b082-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/74001214/d0d574b082-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first.","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dutch_Church_Albany.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">This image or media was taken or created by Matt H. Wade. To see his entire portfolio, click here.@thatmattwade This image is protected by copyright! If you would like to use it, please read this first.</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:Dutch_Church_Albany.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75316225","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Church_in_Albany","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5452657"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/albany-county/first-reformed-church-74001214/"}