In 1844, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle printed the following prediction “THE CITY OF CHURCHES — such, in time, will be the distinctive appellation of Brooklyn.” In the ensuing decades, the incorporation of new houses of worship matched the pace of residential development and reflected the diverse ancestry of the immigrant communities who settled there. The buildings of the 19th and 20th centuries express the evolution of American church architecture, as dictated by the pride and prosperity of worshippers from Bushwick to Bay Ridge.

Most Holy Trinity Church, ca. 1920-1940. In the latter half of the 19th century, Williamsburg had a significant German Catholic population. The first Most Holy Trinity church was a wood-frame building at Graham and Montrose Avenues, erected in 1853. A new French Gothic church by architects William Ditmars and William Schickel was built between 1882 and 1885. The massive church includes twin 250-foot steeples and stained glass windows imported from Austria. In 1990, the steeples were deemed structurally unsound and sheathed in lead cladding as a precautionary measure.