# Rosendale Library > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rosendale_Library > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Rosendale_Library.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosendale_Library > Source revision: 1325201846 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) The **Rosendale Library**, formerly the **All Saints' Chapel**, is located on Main Street ([NY 213](/source/New_York_State_Route_213)) in [Rosendale](/source/Rosendale_Village,_New_York), [New York](/source/New_York_(state)), [United States](/source/United_States). It was originally built as a [Gothic Revival](/source/Gothic_Revival) [Episcopal](/source/Episcopal_Church_of_the_United_States) [church](/source/Church_(building)) from locally mined [Rosendale cement](/source/Rosendale_cement), a material which covers the [stonework](/source/Stonemasonry) exterior walls. After [floods](/source/Flood) from nearby [Rondout Creek](/source/Rondout_Creek) damaged the building in the mid-1950s, the church abandoned it. It also survived a [fire](/source/Structure_fire) in the mid-1970s. A newly formed local [library](/source/Library) district was created to restore it for use as a library. In 1986 it was added to the [National Register of Historic Places](/source/National_Register_of_Historic_Places). ## Building The chapel is a one-story two-by-five-[bay](/source/Bay_(architecture)) building with a rectangular [chancel](/source/Chancel). Its walls are [uncoursed](/source/Course_(architecture)) cement rock rubble laid in Rosendale cement, with [some embellishments and flourishes](/source/Ornament_(architecture)) at windows and doors. A [fire](/source/Structure_fire) in the mid-1970s required the replacement of much of the original interior decoration, although the original wood ceiling is intact. All but two of the [stained-glass](/source/Stained_glass) windows had to be replaced as well.[1] The building was designed to hold 150 people.[3] On the exterior, the most prominent feature is the steeply pitched [gable](/source/Gable) decorated with a [scroll-sawn](/source/Scroll_saw) triangular insert with a central [quatrefoil](/source/Quatrefoil) and three surrounding [trefoils](/source/Trefoil). The [slate](/source/Slate) roof tiled in a decorative pattern of scallops and flowers. A small entrance [vestibule](/source/Vestibule_(architecture)) and [vestry](/source/Vestry) are located on opposite ends of the east wall. On the west is a [hexagonal](/source/Hexagon) [spire](/source/Spire) [paneled](/source/Panelling) in a simple Gothic motif down at the base and [louvered](/source/Louver) at the top, and a four-by-two-bay, architecturally sympathetic wing added in the 1970s, not considered [contributing](/source/Contributing_property) due to its lack of age. ## History The opening of the [Delaware and Hudson Canal](/source/Delaware_and_Hudson_Canal) in the late 1820s triggered rapid growth in Rosendale, as in other communities along its route. In 1874, St. Peter's Episcopal Church in nearby [Stone Ridge](/source/Stone_Ridge,_New_York) established St. John's Mission to serve worshippers there, and within two years it had grown enough to warrant its own [chapel](/source/Chapel).[1] Two thousand dollars was raised, and the building was built in 1877.[3] The name of the mission was changed to All Saints'.[1] In 1893 the mission became a [parish](/source/Parish) in its own right, sponsoring missions of its own in the smaller nearby communities of [Bloomingdale](/source/Bloomingdale,_New_York) and [Rifton](/source/Rifton,_New_York) for periods of the early 20th century. In 1956, flooding in the wake of [Hurricane Flossy](/source/Hurricane_Flossy_(1956)) did enough damage to the church that it had to be abandoned, and the parish was dissolved.[1] Andrew Snyder, a local descendant of the family that had first made a fortune from the cement, bought the building in 1957. He told the local women's club he would donate it for use as a library if they organized it. The club's members formed the Rosendale Library Association, and after restorations and improvements the chapel reopened as the library in 1959.[1] A 1975 [fire](/source/Structure_fire) damaged the building somewhat, and the original interior finishings and all but two of the stained-glass windows had to be removed and replaced. As part of the repair work, a west wing that had been planned when the building was originally acquired was added.[1] In the 1980s, after the property was listed on the Register, the [New York State Legislature](/source/New_York_State_Legislature) passed legislation, signed by then-governor [Mario Cuomo](/source/Mario_Cuomo), permitting the creation of a special library district. Voters in Rosendale approved its creation in 1987 and it received its charter from the state Board of Regents two years later.[4] Work continues on the library building itself. In the 2000s the district obtained a $75,000 state grant to repair the slate roof, and it is currently raising the money required to [match](/source/Matching_donations) it.[4] ## Aesthetics The church's basic design, with its thick walls and [lancet windows](/source/Lancet_windows), is consistent with the English country churches that first used the Gothic Revival style. The arches and brick surrounds of the windows are also consistent with the [vernacular](/source/Vernacular_architecture) styles of churches built by [congregants of English descent](/source/English_American) in the [Hudson Valley](/source/Hudson_Valley). Embedded shells in the exterior, and other touches, suggest the Venetian Gothic stylings written about and championed by [John Ruskin](/source/John_Ruskin).[1] The most unusual aspect of the building's architecture is the exterior finish. The rubblestone, normally left bare in such structures, was instead covered over with Rosendale cement, suggesting a desire to showcase a locally produced building material that had made many residents and congregants prosperous.[1] ## See also - [Mid-Hudson Library System](/source/Mid-Hudson_Library_System) ## References 1. Robert T. Englert (June 1986). [*National Register of Historic Places Registration: New York SP All Saints' Chapel*](https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75322538) (none). National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved December 1, 2025. () 1. Sylvester 1994, p. 236. 1. ["History"](http://www.rosendalelibrary.org/Allfiles/History.html). Rosendale Library. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080518231143/http://www.rosendalelibrary.org/Allfiles/History.html) 2008-05-18 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 2008-09-06. ## Bibliography - Sylvester, Nathaniel Bartlett (1994 [1880]). *History of Ulster County, New York, with Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of its Prominent Men and Pioneers: Part Second: History of the Towns of Ulster County*. Philadelphia, PA: Everts & Peck. ISBN 978-1-55787-130-5. ## External links - [Library website](http://www.rosendalelibrary.org) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Rosendale Library](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosendale_Library) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosendale_Library?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.