{"nrhp_refnum":"99000057","name":"St. Mary's of the Mountain Church","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"NY 23A","address_restricted":false,"city":"Hunter","county":"Greene County","state":"NY","lat":42.20409489600007,"lon":-74.19983014899998,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-01-27","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single-story wood-framed Roman Catholic church with an adjoining parish cemetery, on the north side of NYS Route 23A in Hunter, Greene County, New York. The original church dates from 1839 and was enlarged in 1850 and the 1870s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the church is a rare and unique example of Romanesque-style ecclesiastical architecture in the Catskill Mountain region, where most churches follow Federal, Greek Revival or Gothic Revival models. It also shows how a rural settlement-era church changed with its congregation's fortunes, from the tanning boom to the railroad and tourist era. The cemetery, the region's first Roman Catholic cemetery, adds to its importance.","narrative":"Perched on a hillside along Route 23A in Hunter, this wood-framed church began in 1839 as a small hemlock and basswood building, 30 by 20 feet, built for Irish Catholic workers drawn to the Catskill tanning industry. A parish cemetery was laid out at the same time and survives to the west. The church was enlarged in 1850 with a sanctuary, then reshaped in the 1870s when a resident pastor arrived and railroads brought summer visitors and new workers. That work added the asymmetrical entry towers with quoined corners, round-arched windows and paired louvered openings that give the building its Romanesque character. In 1904 the interior was renovated with pressed metal walls and ceilings, new altars and Munich stained glass, of which one window remains. The building is described as unusual among regional churches, which mostly follow Federal, Greek Revival or Gothic Revival models. Although altered and deteriorated, it remains an important regional example of its type, and the cemetery records early immigrant burial customs.","period_of_significance":"1839 - 1904","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":"Late Victorian/Romanesque","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Current function is listed as vacant; the form notes deterioration and liturgical and some structural alterations, including a modern concrete foundation replacing the failed stone one in the 1970s.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:50.751088-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/99000057.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000057/4cc3e8dc2e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000057/4cc3e8dc2e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Julia Manzerova","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mary_on_the_Mountain.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Julia Manzerova</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:Mary_on_the_Mountain.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75318049","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Mary%27s_of_the_Mountain_Church","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7590454"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/greene-county/st-marys-of-the-mountain-church-99000057/"}