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.

Our Saviour’s Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1941. By the late 19th century, Scandinavian immigrants had arrived in South Brooklyn, finding work in local factories and along the Red Hook waterfront. In 1886, the Danish community was able to purchase two adjoining townhouses on 9th Street, which they then converted into a church and attached rectory. Our Saviour’s congregation moved to Brooklyn Heights in 1957 (it was thereafter known as the Danish Seamen’s Church). The Church sold the 9th Street sanctuary to the American Legion in 1962.

A collection of churches across New York City from the New York Public Library.