St Mary of the Snow

by Joan Carroll

Title

St Mary of the Snow

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Digital Art

Description

I was on my way to visit the Saugerties Lighthouse when I rounded a corner in the road to see a high-steepled church sitting high above a hillside of gravestones. It was a striking scene so naturally I had to stop. St. Mary of the Snow is over 175 years old, and is one of the oldest in the Archdiocese of New York. Known as "the parish of the Hudson", it was the only Catholic parish between New York City and Albany when it was built in 1833. It was also once a part of the Underground Railroad. While we usually think of 19th-century slavery as confined to states below the Mason-Dixon Line, the institution was legal in New York state until 1827. There were slaves in Saugerties, too. Parishioners, unhappy with their status in the eyes of many residents of Saugerties as second-class citizens (they were Catholic Irish and Italian workers), set up a refuge in the church�s basement � right under the noses of area slave holders. With its beautiful name and picture-postcard appearance, this classic country church features a high steeple, traditional stained glass windows. A walk through the church's graveyard reveals a number of white headstones that were issued by the government for the burial of Union Army veterans. A number of the graves are those of Civil War widows as well. St. Mary�s is also the site of the grave of Lillian Hagelnride, who was one of the first women to serve as a nurse in the Union Army. A number of Saugerties Lighthouse Keepers are buried in the graveyard as well. In 1989, a fire nearly destroyed St. Mary of the Snow, but the church was repaired and rebuilt to retain historical authenticity on the outside. FUN FACT: Late Night host Jimmy Fallon grew up in Saugerties and attended elementary school at St. Mary of the Snow.

FEATURED PHOTO, Black and White Photography group, 8/28/15

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August 17th, 2015

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