Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Peter

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Peter, known locally as the Old Stone Church, is located on US 9 in the Town of Rhinebeck, New York, United States. It is a stone church built in the late 18th century by the area's Palatine German immigrant population. It has been renovated significantly since then. The church congregation was established in 1729.Worshippers at first were those who farmed the surrounding areas, but as the nearby villages of Rhinebeck and Red Hook grew and Lutheran churches were established there, the local congregation dwindled. Today only quarterly meetings are held. In 1975 it and the accompanying parsonage (now home to the Museum of Rhinebeck History) and schoolhouse were listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).PropertyThe church and outbuildings are located on a 7acre parcel on the west side of a curved stretch of Route 9, just 0.6 mile (1 km) north of its junction with NY 9G. It is midway between the villages of Rhinebeck and Red Hook, on a gentle rise in the land.The main building, the church, is directly opposite the junction with Stone Church Road. It is a three-by-five-bay fieldstone two-and-a-half-story edifice with a four-story tower in its southeast corner. The east and west walls are fenestrated with high round-arched glass windows trimmed in brick. The main entrance is located on the east side of the tower. Inside the pulpit is on the west, with galleries of pews on the other three sides.