Dover Stone Church by Alicia Crisp
What did I do for Thanksgiving? I went to church. The Stone Church in Dover, New York. Oh, you have never been there? Well if you have driven the stretch from Pawling to Amenia or Millerton on Route 22 you have driven right past it. Just 3/4 mile off the road in downtown Dover. You can park at the Dover Elementary school (if classes are not in session) or the Silver Screen Deli. Walk across the road and up the gravel driveway until you see the sign.
First Welcome Sign
Path to the Woods
As you meander into the woods you will be greeted by another sign.
Please read the rules.
We were entering the forest carpeted with ferns and surrounded by hemlocks.
Hikers on Path
If you follow the path as we did you will be following a path people have taken since the 1600s. How interesting to be there on Thanksgiving Day and think back to the 1600s when an Indian tribe the Pequots came here to escape from the New Englanders.
Or to think about those New York City folk who came here by the droves in the 1830s to see the Stone Church and stay at the Stone Church Hotel. Some even got married at the stone church. And here we are in 2008 making our approach.
This gives you an idea of the scale of the arch compared to us hikers.
The Arch
Did you know that in 1847 Hudson River School of Painting artist, Asher B. Durand, did a drawing of the Dover Stone Church. There are all sorts of facts out there you can find about the Stone Church. Just go to…
http://www.nynjctbotany.org/lgtofc/doverstonech.html and http://www.townofdover.us/Stone_Church.cfm
and www.townofdover.us/uploads/stonechurchvg.pdf or http://www.co.dutchess.ny.us/CountyGov/Departments/CountyExecutive/4141.htm
When this 58-acre property went on the market a few years back the owner approached our own Robert Ferris to market it. We are proud to say that Bob approached the Town of Dover to preserve this incredible space for everyone to be able to enjoy. The Town of Dover, the Dutchess Land Conservancy, and the Friends of the Dover Stone Church did the rest. Raised the funds to acquire the site and rebuilt the hiking trails.
We are currently marketing a property that adjoins the stone church. An 1820 cottage that enjoys gorgeous views of East Mountain and is totally and absolutely secluded. 30 Acres. Situated at the end of a town-maintained gravel road. Mere minutes to the Harlem Valley Train Station. Only $750,000.
And now that the secret of the Stone Church is out and just maybe you will get a chance to visit in the future, please remember the following. Take out what you take in and don’t take out anything other than great memories of a beautiful, local, natural wonder!
I believe if your “friends of the Dover Stone Church” want to get a better picture of all that is and was around Stone Church you should speak with a Palmer. The property was owned and farmed by the Palmers for many many years. The Palmers had a rich history in Dover and were also the ones who donated “Palmers field” to the town. I’m sure there are alot of interesting details you could be filled in on. Stone Church was my backyard and I myself remember catching crawdads from the brook, poking the snapping tutles with sticks while sitting on ‘sharks head rock’ and camping in the hills, telling scarry stories of the pack of wild dogs that were rumered to run the area and sledding down the hills in winter. There are also a few more caves up in those hills besides stone chruch. The row of trees that formed the chruch aisle began the path, sadly it looks as though its now missing, but was considered part of ‘the stone church’. Also, the above cottage you show on your websight I believe was my great grandmothers home.
I have only tried once to return to Stone Church, many years ago, but was turned away from the owner even after I told him who I was. His lack of recognition for the Palmer name and lack of respect for all the years The Palmers cared for and protected Stone Church angered me and I never returned to my old back yard playground.