NEB&W Guide to Cohoes, NY - Baptist Church

Last Update: 2009-11-05

Cohoes Table of Contents
Layout Photo Gallery Table of Contents

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• The Baptist Church was located on the point where Canvass runs into Mohawk. (Building is still there as of 2009, just not being used, hence the past tense.)
  • [Sanborn map, the green building. (The offset of the two story annex is 10 feet or so on the north, five feet or so on the south, in case you can't read the second dimension.)]
  (The rear wall totals 90 feet, three feet shorter than the front, which is about the margin of error of scaling off this plan.)

• There was an earlier, more traditional-looking church on this site back in 1879.
  • [Bird's eye engraving c. 1879. Dull red section indicates the area we are modeling.]
  This is interesting as I have information that the organization itself was established in 1839 and the building built in 1850, so they obviously meant this church, not the second one.

• Two of the five major churches show in this c. WWI postcard. Looking southwest, there was St. John's right next to the track (church and parish house) and the Baptist Church on the next block.
  Not sure when the Baptist Church was built but before 1907 as it shows up on a postcard so dated. The building roof was substantially modified, I understand, in 1922-'23.
  • [Postcard view c. 1910 of the depot area, showing the church's original roofline.]

• The wild dome and roof on the Baptist Church has since been simplified.
  • [Contemporary photo c. 2000 of the track side. Is the brick and stucco effect where the top of the wall was extended up supposed to suggest Elizabethan half-timbering?]
  • [Postcard of the front, 1911, original facade.]
  • [Another early view, with telephone poles.]
  • [Contemporary photo of the front c. 2000.]
  • [Mockup for use on the layout. Note the scale rule at the bottom. This is undersized from the prototype.]

Trackside or Rear Views

• The back or east wall had a slight kink where the church ran along the street (I measure 26 feet from the left or south corner on the Sanborn). There was a two story annex, some 40 feet long, which was 10 feet deep or so at the north corner, only about five feet deep on the south or left corner.
  • [Photo by Jeff English. (Not sure of the date I think late '70's. However, this is the earliest photo we have, other than the c. 1910 postcard views. It shows the trim as a dark brown or red-brown, which is just in the process of being painted a creme color.)]
  • [Contemporary photo c. 1990's of the track side.]
  • [Another view c. 1990's.]
  • [Mockup for use on the layout. Note the scale rule at the bottom. This is undersized from the prototype which should total about 87 feet - just exactly a real foot in HO. The mockup is 71 feet wide or 82% full size.]
  • [Broadside view of the back c. June 2009.]
  • [View of just the left (south) side, the wall that is kinked, June '09.]
  • [Looking northwest, June '09. (Shows the relief of the various elements on the trackside wall.)]
  • [Looking southwest, June '09.]

• Close-up views of this unique brick and stucco decoration.
  • [Photo c. June '09. (That skewed chimney is yet another thing unique about this building.)]
  • [Photo looking up, c. June '09.]
  • [Super close-up, c. June '09.]
  I think that the trim is spaced tighter on the left side than on the right, unless this is an optical illusion.

• Other close-up views.
  • [Close-up of the two story annex, June '09.]
  • [Close-up of the first floor windows, June '09.]

North Side

• White Street apparently continued all the way back to Pine. (Doesn't seem to as of 2009, more of a torn-up parking lot.)
  • [Rear and north wall, June '09.]
  • [Looking southwest again, different angle, June '09.]

South Side

• Despite there being a two story house on this side, the wall of the church was pretty ornate.
  • [Photo of the side looking north c. 2000.]
  • [Looking northwest, June '09.]

Front or West Side

• The front underwent changes to its facade, not just its roof line but the entrance itself prior to the roof change.
  • [Original front.]
  • [Postcard of the front from the other end, 1911, original facade.]
  • [Another early view, with telephone poles.]
  • [Similar early postcard to the above, but the entrance is now centered and the two doors are now windows. (Don't know which came first but the entrance way is centered and single like this version so a very good chance this is a bit later photo.)
  • [Contemporary photo of the front c. 1990's.]
  • [Close-up of the entrance, June '09. (What a crime if this beautiful building is torn down.)]

The Model

• The Sanborn map above indicates the back is 90 feet. Our model concentrates on the back and will be about 70.5 scale feet (at least on the mockup), or 78.3%.
  • [Mockup for use on the layout. Note the scale rule at the bottom. This is undersized from the prototype.]
  • [Walls being made from styrene and N Scale Architect brick material, July '09. (The left wall and annex have had the brick material added, the large wall with the round top window is still bare styrene.)]
  • [Progress, July '09. The brick has been removed from three of the four stucco areas at the top. Pencil lines show where the trim is going.]
  • [Progress August '09. The back walls are almost done, but of course not painted.]
  • [Progress August '09. Close-up on the trim up top.]
  • [Model assembled (it is going up against the backdrop like a "flat"), but not painted, Oct. '09.]
  • [Model spray-painted a base brick red, Nov. '09.]
  • [Model sitting on the layout, showing the relationship of the church to the other models, Nov. '09.]

House at Canvass & Mohawk

• Just down from the Baptist Church was another building, at the point where Canvass runs into Mohawk. (I don't think we have room to model this and besides, it would be hidden by St. John's.)
  • [Sanborn map, the maroon building. (You might want to check to see if the dimensions add up.)]
  • [Photo of the rear on Canvass, c. 1980's.]
  • [Photo further back, with houses on Mohawk Street visible.]
  • [Photo of the side looking north.]
  • [Mohawk Street side c. 1910.]
  • [Postcard of the front from the other end, 1911.]

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