The Reformed Church of Newtown was founded in 1731 by Dutch-speaking farmers and tradesmen. New York had originally been “New Amsterdam,” a Dutch Colony, and although the early members of Newtown were from a variety of ethnic backgrounds, they held their services in the Dutch language still common in the community then called “Newtown.” Later, some developers changed the name of the area to
Elmhurst, but the church retained its original name, a name still carried also by the local high school and subway station. Some things did change, though. The original Federal-Greek Revival building, completed in 1735, had survived the struggles of the colonial days and the disruptions of the Revolutionary War days (during which the British seized it for use as an armory), but it was replaced in 1832 by the present Georgian style sanctuary. On the church grounds is a historic cemetery. In 1975, the church was cited by the New York Historical Trust, and in 1980, the church was added to the National Registry of Historic Places.
By 1980, a large influx of Asian immigrants came to New York City, and many of them settled in Elmhurst. The Reformed Church of Newtown has
evolved so that on any given Sunday there is a Taiwanese service, a Mandarin service, and a multi-cultural service in which Greeks, Latinos, Asian-Indians, Pacific Rim Asians, Russians and “traditional Americans” worship together in English.
Address: 85-15 Broadway Elmhurst, N.Y. 11373 at Corona Avenue
Phone number: 718-592-4466
Website: http://www.newtownchurch.org/
Elmhurst 