Guilderland Historical Society

- Guilderland properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places - Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church

The Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church was destroyed by fire 25 March 1986. The Altamont Enterprise reported this event 1986-03-27.
Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church former site, and the replacement building (August 2025).
site of Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church, and new church beyond

Photos of Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church in the 1982 NRHP nomination document (marked May, June 1980)
click on an image to obtain full size view 
Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church in 1980  detail of steeple  detail of Tiffany window on south elevation
 1.  Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church       2.  detail of steeple                                       3.  detail of Tiffany window on south elevation
     view from southwest
addition on north side looking south
  4.  sunday school addition on north side looking south

Text information from NRHP nomination of 1982
  The Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church entered on the NRHP 10 November 1982
Application file # 8; National Register Guilderland Multiple Resource Area # 14.
The church is located in the sparsely settled hamlet of Guilderland Center with the Frederick House (1802) on the west and the Freeman House (1734) on the east, retaining much of the original context.
Features: This Gothic inspired church is cruciform in plan with unmatched steeples at the southern end (front); side stained-glass windows are pointed arched and were designed by Blockridge Studios of Albany; the front, triple, pointed-arched window was done by Tiffany of New York City. The weathervane was recovered from an earlier church (1789) and the McNeeley bell placed in the steeple was cast in 1835.
Date of initial construction: 1895
Architect: Aaron Fuller
Historical and Architectural importance: This vernacular interpretation of the Gothic Revival style was built in 1895 by the congregation of the Reformed Church. The church was planned by Aaron Fuller, a prominent resident and one time Town Supervisor. Similar in massing to Romanesque Revival churches of the mid-to-late nineteenth century, the Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church incorporates the Gothic arch and Tiffany windows into an otherwise simple ecclesiastical design. Surviving largely intact near a modern suburban environment, the church is a significant example of the nineteenth-century rural church architecture in the area.
  Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church NRHP nomination document (10MB pdf)

location map for Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church   building location map
  map location from NRHP document (#8 Helderberg Reformed Dutch Church)      site map with building location from 1979 tax map
 Google Earth kml file

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