Woodside

The Woodside Church and Chapel are all that remain of the Victorian Upper Works of the Burden Iron Company. Built in 1868 and designed by Henry Dudley, a prominent English church architect, the church and chapel were constructed atop a hill looming over the Hudson River in Troy, New York, in memory of Henry Burden’s wife.

These gorgeous Victorian structures are not only an homage to Burden’s beloved, but a symbol of reconciliation. The Burden Iron Company and Corning’s Albany Iron Works had been feuding for years; however, the church and chapel are built on Erastus Corning’s land. The stone church was paid for by the wealth Burden had accumulated (his company had produced one million horseshoes a week during the Civil War). The church recorded births, deaths, and marriages alike and became a social gathering for those in Troy.

The church was last used by the Presbyterian congregation in 2003. Almost destroyed by a wrecking ball around 2007, the church and chapel were saved and placed on the National Registry of Historic Places. In 2009, a residency program for artists was opened after renovations were completed. The second round of renovations was completed in 2014, followed by a grand opening of the Exhibition and Performance Center in 2015.