The New York Landmarks Conservancy has announced 22 Sacred Sites Grants totaling $250,000 awarded to historic religious properties throughout New York State, including $12,000 to Shiloh Baptist Church in Tarrytown to help fund repairs to stucco masonry and rear porch.
Henry T. Smith, owner and operator of the Tarrytown Herald, originally completed the now-Shiloh Baptist Church as the Opera House in 1884. Shiloh Baptist Church, a congregation founded in 1885 to serve the area’s growing African American community, bought the building in 1890.
Shiloh Baptist Church reaches about 550 local residents through a feeding program conducted in partnership with Gullatta House, a Westchester County community-aid organization based in nearby Briarcliff Manor.
“Our grants help maintain historic religious institutions that often anchor their communities,” said Peg Breen, President, The New York Landmarks Conservancy. “Our recent grantees have food, cultural and outreach programs that reach well beyond their congregations.”
The Sacred Sites Program provides congregations with matching grants for planning and implementing exterior restoration projects, along with technical assistance, and workshops. Since 1986, the program has pledged over 1,600 grants totaling almost $15 million to 840 religious institutions statewide.
I grew up one block from this Church and used to hear the choir singing and thought it was magical. SO happy to see that there are resources to maintain this beautiful historical congregation!
Congratulations! Proud to be a neighbor!