New York, NY - Urban Archive

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Brooklyn, "City of Churches"

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.

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Urban Archive

1

Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church

Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church

Designed by William A. Mundell; completed in 1869. Today, this red-brick church is home to the Eglise Baptiste D’Expression Française, a Francophone Baptist congregation.

2

Cobble Hill Park

Cobble Hill Park

Affectionately known as the "Church of the Holy Turtle," this Unitarian church occupied the site of present-day Cobble Hill Park until 1962.

3

Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church

Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church

This 1873 Methodist Church was condemned in 1929, after subway construction undermined its foundation. (A new church was built on the site.)

4

Church of St. Michael and St. Edward

Church of St. Michael and St. Edward

The Church of St. Michael & St. Edward, prior to the construction of the Fort Greene Houses.

5

St. Peter's Church

St. Peter's Church

Designed by Patrick Charles Keeley, the Romanesque Revival church was dedicated in 1860.

6

Queen of All Saints Church

Queen of All Saints Church

Upon its completion in 1913, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle lauded the Queen of All Saints Church as "one of the two or three most beautiful specimens of Church architecture in the United States."

7

Seamen’s Goodwill Mission

Seamen’s Goodwill Mission

Storefront church and mission on Hamilton Avenue, near the Red Hook waterfront.

8

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Red Hook's Church of the Visitation is the parish's third church, completed in 1896.

9

St. Paul's M.E. Chapel

St. Paul's M.E. Chapel

This Red Hook chapel dated to the late 19th century.

10

Our Saviour’s Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church

Our Saviour’s Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church

This 1886 Danish Evangelical Lutheran church was the predecessor of the Danish Seamen's Church in Brooklyn Heights.

11

Church of the Ascension

Church of the Ascension

The English Gothic Church of the Ascension was completed in Greenpoint in 1866.

12

St. Stanislaus Kostka

St. Stanislaus Kostka

St. Stanislaus Kostka was completed in 1904 and quickly became a center of North Brooklyn’s growing Polish community. St. Stanislaus continues to hold mass in Polish, seven days a week.

13

Holy Name of Jesus Church

Holy Name of Jesus Church

Holy Name of Jesus Church nearly met a mid-century wrecking ball, when the original right-of-way for the Prospect Expressway would have necessitated its removal. (The route was modified prior to construction.)

14

St. John's Episcopal

St. John's Episcopal

St. John’s Episcopal Church was completed in 1869, becoming the permanent home of the St. John’s Episcopal parish, founded in 1826.

15

Orthodox Friends Meeting House

Orthodox Friends Meeting House

This red brick church was completed in 1868 and remained a Quaker Meeting House until the 1950s.

16

St. Paul's Episcopal

St. Paul's Episcopal

The High Victorian Gothic church was designed by architect Richard Upjohn, who lived just a few blocks north at the corner of Clinton and Baltic Streets.

17

South Congregational Church

South Congregational Church

The South Congregational Church dates to 1857 and used to feature an impressive (and precarious) steeple.

18

Carroll Park Methodist Episcopal Church

Carroll Park Methodist Episcopal Church

This neighborhood church was included in the 1973 Carroll Gardens Historic District, but lost in a fire later that same decade.

19

Most Holy Trinity Church

Most Holy Trinity Church

Most Holy Trinity sports two 250-foot steeples, which have been clad in lead since 1990, owing to concerns about their long-term structural viability.

20

Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Church of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

This Williamsburg Church was home to Brooklyn's early 20th century Lithuanian Catholic community.

21

St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church

St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church

Much of St. John's predominantly German congregation moved away from Williamsburg in the mid-20th century, with some members establishing a satellite parish in Glendale, Queens.

22

Pilgrim Chapel

Pilgrim Chapel

Today, this 1878 J. Cleveland Cady-designed sanctuary is a neighborhood grocery store.

23

Shrine Chruch of Our Lady of Solace

Shrine Chruch of Our Lady of Solace

Before it was a church, Coney Island's Our Lady of Solace was home to a dance hall.

24

Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity

Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity

The distinctive onion-domed Russian Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity was built for the 1930s era Belorussian Orthodox community of East New York.

25

New Lots Reformed Church and Cemetery

New Lots Reformed Church and Cemetery

The New Lots Reformed Church grounds include a private cemetery dating to the 17th Century.

26

Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church

Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church

The Dutch Reformed Church on Flatbush Avenue is the oldest continuously used location for religious purposes in New York City (a previous church was built on this site in 1654).

27

Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School

Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School

The site of St. John's in Fort Greene was originally intended for the construction of a massive cathedral.

28

Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church

Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church

In the Civil War era, Lafayette Avenue was known for the sermons of its abolitionist pastor Theodore L. Cuyler and its distinguished congregation.

29

Hanson Baptist Church

Hanson Baptist Church

The Baptist hymn “Hanson Place” takes its name from this late-1850s church.

30

former Immanuel Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church

former Immanuel Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church

This Swedish Methodist congregation dates its origins to an 1845 meeting on a ship docked in New York Harbor.

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