The Vail's Gate United Methodist Church was founded by John Ellison in 1789. A wealthy merchant of
the time, early class meetings were held in the upper floor of his store and later a barn. The Ellison
house is now a New York State Historic Site known as Knox's Headquarters (left) located on the
corner of Route 94 and Old Forge Temple Road in the Town of New Windsor. The original class
meeting house (right) is still standing adjacent to the State Historic Site.











The congregation was served by circuit riders, which was the practice, of early Methodist churches of
the day and was part of a circuit that began in Vernon, New Jersey. The membership of the early class
meetings out grew Mr. Ellison's store and the present church was built in 1807 (below), on land
donated by Mr. Ellison. It is believed to be the oldest United Methodist Church in continuous service
west of the Hudson River. It was incorporated that same year as the Union Methodist Episcopal
Church.












Some time later, the church became the head of the newly formed New York Annual Conference New
Windsor Circuit that included Methodist churches in Cornwall, Mountainville, Salisbury Mills, Sugar
Loaf, Smith's Clove, Oxford, Warwick and Bellvale.

Although, the church has seen the addition of a meeting room behind the sanctuary in 1950, and the
addition of an educational wing in 1962, the basic original and simple church architecture of the period
has been maintained both on the exterior and the interior.

The Vail's Gate United Methodist Church is fortunate to have original leather bound books which
contain class membership lists from the years 1837-1884 and Annual Conference minutes from
1831-1883. Also recorded are births and marriages from that period. Unfortunately, original
documentation of the church's cemetery records have been lost. Over the years, we have relied upon a
list compiled by Mrs. W.H. Bradford of the Quassic Chapter of the D.A.R. assembled in 1927, and a
survey of headstones taken in 1930 by Gertrude A. Barber in 1930, for accurate records. During the
spring of 2006, an extensive cemetery restoration began and a complete record has been assembled
with the assistance the Town of New Windsor Historian, Glenn Marshall (HistoryNW@aol.com).
There are over 300 persons listed. Included are family members of the Mortons (Vail's Gate had an
earlier name of Mortonville). There are also twelve veterans of the Civil War buried in the cemetery.

Here are two photos of the original parsonage belonging to the Vail's Gate United
Methodist Church, which was located on the northeast corner of Route 94 and Old Forge
Hill Road, facing Route 94. Dates of purchase and sale are being researched. It was
demolished, and most residents of the area recognize this corner as a used vehicle lot.