St. George's Church (Episcopal), Astoria, Queens, undated (ca. 1910-1911).
1910
St. George's Church (Episcopal), Astoria, Queens, undated (ca. 1910-1911).
The current edifice was built and dedicated in February 1904, but the congregation dates back to 1825 when Samuel Blackwell donated a portion of his land to the new Episcopal congregation. An earlier wooden frame church existed on location between 1828 until 1894 when it was burned down. Next door to the church was the Astoria Institute for the Education of Young Ladies (built 1824), an academy that was built to educate the daughters of Astoria’s wealthy. The academy was not successful and soon after it became the parish house for St George’s, until it was sadly torn down in 2005 despite pleas from the Greater Astoria Historical Society.
Just behind the church, there is a graveyard that holds the remains of many of Astoria’s early settlers such as the Blackwells and the Trowbridges, and a few Halletts.
From Alan Arichavala