Saint Luke in the Fields, in Greenwich Village, 487 Hudson Street New York City, was founded in 1820 on farmland donated by Trinity Church, to accommodate the expansion of northward into Greenwich Village. The original church building was reminiscent of an English village church, with a square tower at one end, but made of brick and built in the Federal style.
The church was constructed in 1821-22 and has been attributed to both John Heath, the building contractor, and James N. Wells. The church complex cost $7,500 according to church records
The complex was laid out by Clement Clarke Moore, who would serve as the church’s first pastor. Clement Clarke Moore is most known for writing, Twas the Night Before Christmas. wrote “Twas the Night Before Christmas.” Greenwich Village at the time was a sanctuary for people fleeing the yellow fever endemic disease of the city proper, and the name of the new parish was Hughtchosen to evoke the pastoral quality of the area. “St. Luke’s” was chosen in honor of the patron saint of physicians, an evocation of the disease that catalyzed the church’s development.
On July 10, 1863, just five days before his 84th birthday, Clement Clarke Moore died in his summer home in Newport. His body was returned to New York during a time of tremendous upheaval. In March a strict federal draft law was enacted whereby every male citizen between 20 and 35 was subject to military duty for the Civil War. A lottery was established to select the draftees; but those who could afford the $300 waiver fee could avoid conscription. On the day after Moore’s death the first lottery was held. Two days later, when the working classes realized the inequity of the system, riots broke out. For five days no one was safe on the streets of New York as mobs murdered civilians and torched homes and businesses. Moore’s casket arrived in the city and was secretly moved through the streets to the churchyard behind St. Luke in the Field where it was quietly buried.
On October 26, 1865, just a few months after the end of the Civil War, Francis J. Lyon and Mary Imogene Greene were married in the church by Reverend J. H. Tuttle. The newlyweds boarded the steamer St. John for their honeymoon excursion. Three days later, at 7:00AM, the vessel’s boiler exploded. Both Francis and Mary were scalded to death. On Tuesday, October 31 just five days after their wedding, their coffins were carried into the church. The New York Times reported “the coverings being removed, the bodies were seen in their bridal attire.” The church was crowded with mourners. Rev. Tuttle the same clergyman who had officiated at the marriage ceremony officiated their final rights.
Within a few years of the church’s erection, houses were constructed along the sides of the church to obscure views of its burial ground and garden. Of the seven houses which once flanked the church on each side, a total of six remain. In the late 1880s, when the surrounding neighborhood become predominantly poor and largely composed of immigrants the congregation moved north to West 141st Street, and St. Luke’s became a chapel of Trinity Church, only regaining its independence in 1976.
The church building was damaged by fire twice, in 1886 and on March 6, 1981. After the latter fire, which gutted the building, it was reconstructed by Hugh Hardy of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates, who restored much of its original Federal style touches. The reconstruction was completed in 1985. Starting in the 1980s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic deeply affected the Village community, hitting the congregation hard. The AIDS Project of St. Luke’s was founded in 1987, providing Saturday dinner and weekend teas to tens of thousands of afflicted persons. One of the priests ministering to AIDS patients then was former actress Molly McGreevy. St. Luke’s is actively involved with the gay and lesbian community, participating with its own contingent at the annual Gay Pride March.
