Early History
St. Philip’s Church in the Highlands began as a modest wooden chapel, a northern outpost of St. Peter’s Church in Peekskill. Built in 1771 for the residents of what is now Garrison, the chapel was called St. Philip’s partly to honor the Philipse family, the largest landowner in the area. St. Peter’s itself was founded only a few years earlier, in 1767; it received a royal charter from King George III in 1770.
Beverly Robinson, a vestryman of St. Peter’s, gave the land for St. Philip’s. Although a good friend of George Washington, he was a Loyalist and was heavily involved in Benedict Arnold’s treasonous plot to turn West Point over to the British in 1780. At the end of the Revolutionary War, Robinson fled to England, losing all his property.
In 1775, the Loyalist rector of St. Philip’s fled to Canada, so no services were held. There is a story that, during the Revolutionary War, Washington was riding past St. Philip’s when one of his officers said, “That is a Tory church,” to which Washington, a loyal Anglican, said, “It is my church.” (A stained-glass window portraying Washington is in the vestibule today.) The chapel was dismantled during the war and its materials were used to help construct the small fort at West Point. The chapel was reopened in 1786, and a larger wooden church was built in 1837. St. Philip’s officially became independent from St. Peter’s in 1840, reflecting the growth in Garrison’s population.
1862 The New Church
The Hudson River Railroad was finished in 1849, bringing new residents to the Garrison area: families named Fish, Osborn, Sloan, Livingston, and Toucey, who worshipped at St. Philip’s and are buried here.
In 1860, renowned British-born architect and vestryman Richard Upjohn designed a superb Gothic Revival church as a gift to his parish, St. Philip’s. A founder of the American Institute of Architects, Upjohn championed the Gothic Revival ecclesiastical style and is best known for Trinity Church in New York City. A noted Scottish stonemason, Smeaton Forson, came from Scotland to build the new St. Philip’s. Completed at a cost of $9,350 in 1862, it continues today, beautiful and steadfast, to inspire all who worship here.
Dedicated to St. Philip’s, Upjohn also designed a wooden Rectory, built in 1854. It was replaced in 1911 by the present stone building, the cost of which was donated by the family of railroad executive Samuel Sloan, a vestryman and warden. The stone Parish House was built in 1900, a substantial gift from the Toucey family. Generous contributions from William Henry Osborn and Stuyvesant Fish added the Sexton’s House in 1917, so that, by then, our buildings and grounds looked essentially as you see them today.
Growth From WWII Until Today
St. Philip’s had another period of growth after World War II. New families moved here seeking not only church services for themselves but also a church school for their children. St. Philip’s responded, in 1956, 100 children were enrolled in our Sunday School.
The Garrison School (across Route 9D) used the Parish House for their kindergarten until 1959. In 1960, St. Philip’s Nursery School began providing preschool education to 3- and 4-year-olds, and has operated continuously ever since, introducing many families to the Church itself.
In 2018, a Columbarium dedicated to honor the Rev. Francis Geer, our Rector from 1987 to 2018, was built in the north corner of our churchyard. In 2019, the church interior was completely renovated, and a magnificent Schoenstein pipe organ installed.
In many ways, today’s St. Philip’s would not be recognized by its first parishioners. Women serve on the vestry and as wardens, and our present Rector, the Rev. Amanda Eiman, is the first woman to serve in that role. But St. Philip’s now, as then, is a neighborhood center, bringing people together in times both dark and joyous, uplifting our spirits, and providing comfort to all.
Our Former Rectors
1771-74 The Rev. John Doty
1792-94 The Rev Andrew Fowler
1794-98 The Rev. Samuel Haskell
1809-15 The Rev. John Urquhart
1815-16 The Rev. Petrus Ten Broeck
1820-22 The Rev. Issac Wilkins
1826-29 The Rev. Edward J. Ives
1832-33 The Rev. James Sunderland
1835 The Rev. Charles Luck ("Priest in charge")
1836 The Rev. F Peake (four months, recalled by bishop)
1836-38 The Rev. Henry Lemuel Storrs
1838-39 The Rev. Edward C. Bull
1839-43 The Rev. Ebenezer Williams,
1843-50 The Rev. Robert Shaw
1852-53 The Rev. David Eglington Barr
1854-57 The Rev. Edward Mills Pecke
1857-59 The Rev. Joel Clap
1860-73 The Rev. Charles Frederick Hoffman
1873-82 The Rev. Albert Zabriskie Gray
1883-98 The Rev. Walter Thompson
1898-1907 The Rev. Carroll Perry
1908-40 The Rev. Edward Clowes Chorley
1940-45 The Rev. William M. Sharp
1945-54 The Rev. Lockett Ford Ballard
1954-1960 The Rev. T. Carleton Lee III
1960-87 The Rev. William Reisman
1987-2018 The Rev. Francis Geer
2020- Present The Rev. Amanda Eiman
