Stillwater United Church
Also known as: Second Baptist Church
Why it's listed
This red brick church on Hudson Avenue (US Route 4) in the village of Stillwater was completed in 1873 as the Second Baptist Church. It replaced an earlier Greek Revival frame meetinghouse built in 1836 on the same parcel. Troy architect Marcus F. Cummings designed it in an early Romanesque Revival or Northern Italianate style, with round-arched openings, brick pilasters, corbelled cornices, stone trim, a staged bell tower and a 14-foot rose window. Inside, the sanctuary sits above a raised-basement social hall and has decorative molded beams with Eastlake-inspired trim and opalescent stained glass. The building is considered an early and rare surviving example of Cummings's religious work. In 1947 the Baptist, Presbyterian and Methodist congregations combined, and in 1952 they incorporated as Stillwater United Church. A 1952 brick education wing is attached but is not considered historically significant. The congregation still worships in the building.
Significance in brief: The church is significant under architecture as a large, distinguished example of Italianate-inspired (early Romanesque Revival or Northern Italianate) church design in Stillwater. It is also described as an early and rare surviving religious building by Marcus F. Cummings of Troy. It retains a high level of interior and exterior integrity.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 06000887, listed September 28, 2006. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | 135 Hudson Ave., Stillwater |
|---|---|
| County | Saratoga County |
| Listed | September 28, 2006 |
| Reference number | 06000887 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1873-1952 |
| Architect / builder | Marcus F. Cummings (Architect) |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian/Italianate |
| Criteria |
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| Areas of significance | Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The congregation continues to worship in the building; the 1952 education wing is non-contributing, and a non-historic steeple was installed in 2005. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Within district | Champlain Canal |
| Coordinates | 42.93897, -73.65380 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
Religious properties are listed for their architectural or historical significance, not their religious use. Listing is honorary and does not restrict the congregation's use of the building. The federal rehabilitation credit is generally unavailable unless part of the building is income-producing; some state programmes and preservation grants do cover religious buildings. Federal funding or permits trigger Section 106 review.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 06000887.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q14707372
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.