Childwold Memorial Presbyterian Church
Why it's listed
Set on a square parcel along Bancroft Road in the Adirondack hamlet of Childwold, this small wooden church was built in 1893 on land donated by community founder Addison Child and the Dorr family. Architect and builder William A. Pond directed a volunteer workforce using lumber milled locally. The building is a one-story basilica-plan Queen Anne design, about 25 by 42 feet, with a full-width verandah, a bellcast steeple, jerkinhead wall dormers, and decorative cedar shingle bands. Inside are original cast-iron and maple pews, colored-glass windows added in 1913, and a painted altarpiece donated in 1925. The church mattered to a community shaped by a grand resort hotel, railroad access and later logging. When the Hotel Childwold was demolished, the church remained as the sole survivor of that era. It served year-round residents and seasonal visitors for decades and still holds summer services, retaining a high level of historic integrity.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the church has an outstanding level of architectural integrity in the Queen Anne style and is the sole survivor of the community's vanished Victorian architecture. It also represents the community development and tourism boom that followed railroad access to the Adirondacks, and it served as a gathering place for worship and social life.
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 01000585, listed May 30, 2001. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence high).
Key facts
| Address | Bancroft Rd., Piercefield |
|---|---|
| County | St. Lawrence County |
| Listed | May 30, 2001 |
| Reference number | 01000585 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | 1903-1950 |
| Architect / builder | William A. Pond |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian/Queen Anne |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Architecture, Community Planning and Development, Social History, Entertainment/Recreation |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Operates as a seasonal church open through the summer months, with student ministers filling the pulpit; a ten-year window restoration concluded in 1999. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 44.28466, -74.66874 (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 01000585.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q5098634
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.