The Church That Wasn’t There

On my recent kick of photographing locations in Green Island that were used as postcards so long ago, I found a postcard of an old church that once existed in the Town and Village.

Here’s the postcard.

All I know is that this postcard is of the First Presbyterian Church in Green Island. I don’t know WHERE in Green Island this building is; but Green Island’s only a square mile of territory, so it’s gotta be around here somewhere.

I walked the entire width and breadth of the Town and Village … but couldn’t find the church. Nothing.

Okay. Let’s see if there’s any references in old newspapers to the church and an address therewith.

I fired up the fultonhistory.com website and searched for “first presbyterian church green island.” Found lots of wedding announcements and funeral announcements and whatnot. But none of the searches provided any concrete street address.

Although I did find this salacious little tidbit in the Albany Times Union from 1927. Couldn’t resist sharing this.

Damn, dude. Bigamy. You don’t see too many reports of bigamy out there.

Eventually I found an online Troy City Directory, which showed all the buildings and streets and residences in Troy, Green Island, Watervliet, Waterford and the other surrounding locales. And there it was. Corner of Clinton Street and Hudson Avenue. Hey, it’s only a block or two away from the home where that bigamist lived. Hee.

Wait, that intersection address can’t be right. There’s a church near there, but it’s the Church of the Good Shepherd, and the building facade looks NOTHING like what’s on the postcard. Plus, the Church of the Good Shepherd is a Methodist church, not a Presbyterian church. And no, I’m not going to say, “Like there’s a difference.” Apparently there IS a difference. I don’t know what that difference is, but Methodists and Presbyterians are two different sects.

But wait. The card contained a clue. Next to the church is a house with a pillared front porch and a gabled roof window. If I find that house … and honestly, houses don’t move. It’s not like a house can jump from one side of the street to the other.

Sure enough … the house is still standing.

And after I lined up a few shots …

I spoke to the homeowners of that gabled house. The house itself was originally the First Presbyterian Church’s rectory, and now it’s a private residence. And the church itself? It was razed long ago. Apparently the church had fallen into disrepair and was torn down in 2003; the site now exists as a parking lot for the Town and Village Court (which, incidentally, exists as another repurposed former church building).

Okay. A few tries with my cell phone, and a few tries with my Nikon Df … and this came out.

The lines aren’t perfect; but they’re close enough. At least in this image, we know where the church was and it’s now part of one of my art photos.

This is good. All the way good.

Damn, if I keep this up … all I need now is to find more old Green Island postcards and friendly, understanding neighbors and residents – and hopefully no bigamists – and this could turn into something special. 😀