Houses of Worship

Beth David Synagogue
3344 East Main Street (Route 343)
Amenia, NY 12501
congbethdavid.org
On the National Register of Historic Places
Beth David was founded by a group of 12 to 15 Russian Jewish families that had settled in Amenia. Many had come there from nearby Ellsworth as Amenia had better schools and electricity, as well as convenient rail access to New York City via the New York Central Railroad's Harlem Valley line. Several families went into the resort business full-time, opening their own hotels around nearby Lake Amenia.
It was a small Jewish community compared to those that had sprung up in the Catskills, on the other side of the Hudson Valley. Members at first worshiped in their homes, raising the money over several years to build their own synagogue. A small plot of land was donated, and the cornerstone lain on April 5, 1929, at a ceremony attended by members of the local Christian community as well. All present donated to the construction of the synagogue.
Over the years, its membership has dwindled and it has moved from its original Orthodox affiliation to Conservative, and eventually to Reform practices.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 8, 2002.

Church of Immaculate Conception
4 Lavelle Road
Amenia, NY 12501
Phone: 845-373-8193
email: icspamen@optonline.net
The Immaculate Conception parish was originally established in 1868. The parish included the Dover Plains, Pawling, Pine Plains and Millbrook. At present, the parish consists of St. Patrick's church in Millerton and the Immaculate Conception church in Amenia. The first church in Amenia was located at the corner of Route 22 and Powder House Road. On July 29,1886 it was struck by lightning and completely destroyed by fire.
On April 5, of the following year ground was broken for the present church by Archbishop Corrigan of New York. After many delays and a cost of $12,775.00 it was dedicated on February 12th 1888. A new school and convent were dedicated by Cardinal Spellman in 1959. The school ceased operation in 1986.

St. Thomas Episcopal Church
40 Leedsville Road
Amenia, NY 12501
stthomasamenia.com/
The congregation was established in 1848 by local residents following missionary work in the area by the Rev. Homer Wheaton of the hamlet of Lithgow in the nearby Town of Washington. By the next year $2,000 had been raised by subscription to build a church. A local farmer donated not only $500 but all the bricks as well. Trinity Church in Lower Manhattan held a $500 mortgage on the property to complete the $3,000. Thechurch was built between 1850 and 1852 from a design by the noted Victorian architect Richard Upjohn (architect of the world-renowned Trinity Church, Wall Street, New York City), and today is considered one the finest examples of the "country gothic" style popular during this era. Typically for the small farm community of its time, much of the construction was carried out by the parishioners themselves, with bricks produced on a local farm and foundation stones, sand, and the chestnut rafters hauled by their own teams and wagons.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places April 6, 2005

The Smithfield Church
656 Smithfield Valley Road
Amenia, New York, 12501
thesmithfieldchurch.org/
On the National Register of Historic Places
Smithfield Church is a historic Presbyterian church located in the Smithfield hamlet of Amenia. It was built about 1847-1848, and is a one-story, Greek Revival style heavy timber frame church sheathed in clapboard. It has a stone foundation and gable roof and features a tetra style portico supported by four Ionic order columns. The church was refurbished in 1938. Also on the property is a contributing horse shed, Sexton's House (1857), and church cemetery, with the earliest grave dated to 1737. George Whitefield (1714-1770) preached an open air revival sermon at the church in June 1770.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on February 3, 2012


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