Saint Savior’s Church is on the fringe of an industrial neighborhood, the house of worship stood for more than a century on a tree-lined block at the corner of Rust Street 57th Street Maspeth Queens.
St. Saviour’s Episcopal Church, was one of the oldest and most cherished landmarks of old Maspeth. The church was organized by Judge David Jones, son-in-law of DeWitt Clinton. DeWitt Clinton designed the New York City grid structure. He was joined by other well-known pioneers of Maspeth, including James Maurice, in obtaining the land. The church was erected upon the estate of Dr. Frederick Maurice, for whom the avenue is named.
The Gothic style church, constructed out of redwood, was copied from an old English country church that the Maurice family had seen on their European trip. The building was designed for St. Saviour’s by the architect of Trinity Church, Manhattan, Richard Upjohn, and the cornerstone was laid on Nov. 1, 1847.
During the expansion of the 20th century, Maspeth became increasingly industrialized. The congregation decreased over these years, with so many young people leaving the community. A small, but spirited, nucleus of 57 church members remained. In December of 1970, just three days before Christmas, a fire ravaged the church, destroying much of it and leaving its members numb. Under the leadership of its new rector, the Reverend John M. Mills Sr., St. Saviour’s was rebuilt. The bishop of the diocese rededicated it on April 30, 1972.
The congregation folded in or about 1995 and merged with nearby St. James Episcopal Church in Elmhurst. A Korean church took its place at the former St. Saviour’s site and remained there until selling the church and land a decade later. In January 2006 the church closed for good, and the property was sold to developers. It triggered a long battle between a local civic group, the new property owners, the city and even a local lawmaker as to the sites future.
The holding company that purchased the site, known as Maspeth Development LLC, sought to clear the block and develop warehouses. News of their plans stirred interest from the Juniper Park Civic Association, (JPCA) then led by current Councilman Robert Holden, and other preservationists. In the spring of 2008, after a major fundraising effort, the JPCA worked to have St. Saviour’s Church dismantled. piece by piece, frame by frame. It was carefully taken apart like a jigsaw puzzle.
The civic group arranged to have the pieces stored off-site until raising enough funds to rebuild it at another site. The plan was to re-erect the church on an unusable plot of land in All Faiths Cemetery, off the corner of 69th Street and Juniper Valley Road, in Middle Village. Though the group was successful in saving the physical church, the efforts to have the city turn the Maspeth site into a public park fell apart.
To this day, the church remains stored in a warehouse — and its former home is now occupied by warehouses that may be there for many decades to come.