50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Chelsea

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Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Chelsea, is a historic church of the Episcopal Diocese of New York at 344 West 20th Street Manhattan. It began as an outgrowth from the nearby General Theological Seminary, which had been founded in 1827.

After years in which local residents joined students and faculty from the Seminary for services, it became clear than a new, separate congregation was necessary, and this was organized on May 9, 1831.

Clement Clarke Moore, whose estate “Chelsea” gave the name to the neighborhood, and who donated the land of his apple orchard for the Seminary to be built on. He leased land to the new congregation, which he later deeded to it. He became an active member of the St. Peter’s congregation: at various times he was a warden, a vestryman, and the church organist.

A Greek revival-style chapel was built which was consecrated on February 4, 1831. Five years later, builder James W. Smith began constructing the present Gothic revival church from designs made by Moore, and this present church building was consecrated on February 22, 1838; the chapel became the church’s rectory.

The wrought-iron fence in front of the church is older than the church and the rectory. It dates from c.1790, and was originally part of the second incarnation of Trinity Church, the primary and oldest Episcopal congregation in New York City at the time. It was moved to St. Peter’s sometime in the 1830s. The clock in the church’s bell tower was installed in 1888, and it operated without interruption until April 1949, when a hand on one of its faces broke loose.

The third building in the complex is the East Hall, which was constructed beginning in 1854 and had a church-like facade added in 1871. It is now used by the Atlantic Theatre Company as their main stage, the Linda Gross Theatre. The entire church complex is part of the Chelsea Historic District, which was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1970 and extended in 1981.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava

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The church building was constructed in 1850-55 and was designed by architect Richard Upjohn in English Gothic Revival style. At the time it was known as Trinity Chapel which was one of several uptown chapels of the Trinity Church parish.

Celebrated American writer Edith Wharton (Jones) married socialite Edward Wharton in 1885 in Trinity Chapel; she was later to immortalize the church in her famous novel of Victorian New York, The Age of Innocence. Trinity Chapel was an active Episcopal Church community for a number of decades until 1915, when the area became commercial and parishioners began to relocate farther north.

The chapel was sold to the Serbian Eastern Orthodox parish in 1942, re-opening as the Cathedral of St. Sava in 1944. The entire church complex with furnishings was purchased in 1942 for $30,000. The Deed, signed on March 15, 1943, did not include a park on the southwest side of the church (present-day parking lot), speculated to have been sold at a later date.

Following the end of World War II, the Cathedral reached out to huge waves of refugees and immigrants from Yugoslavia. It was the only place where Serbs could meet, where they could preserve their faith and national identity, simultaneously a place to learn English and enter into their new, alien society and culture.

In the 1960’s, a powerful explosion from across 26th Street destroyed the original stained glass altar windows, which were subsequently replaced with stained glass windows in a Byzantine style motif. The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava was declared a national landmark building by the National Register of Historic Places, U.S. Department of the Interior, and the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. On April 18, 1968, the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission stated that the Cathedral’s “striking appearance commands special attention,” and that “its special character, historic significance, and aesthetic interest and value of the development, heritage, and cultural characteristics of New York make it irreplaceable”.

50 Oldest Churches of NYC: Saint James Parish Hall

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Saint James Parish Hall, is also known as Saint James Church, Church of England in America, Mission Church at Newtowne, Saint James Protestant Episcopal Church  or Old Saint James Church to distinguish it from the Saint James Episcopal Church two blocks away. It is located at 86-02 Broadway in the Elmhurst neighborhood of Queens in New York City.

The Mission Church at Newtowne was founded in 1704 as a mission of a parish based in Jamaica, Queens. The parish built its Newtown structure in 1735–1736 and became separate in 1761.

The church survived through the American Revolutionary War, since the Rector, Joshua Bloomer, was allied with the Loyalists. It was also a place of worship for British officers and men during the Revolution. The building was also used by British troops to store ammunition.

Boxed pews nearest the minister were generally reserved for the most important members of the community, while indentured servants, apprentices, slaves, and Native Americans were seated in the upper level of the tower.

The congregation used the building until a new church was built nearby in 1848, whereupon the old structure became a parish building. The graveyard at the old church remained in use until 1851, when most corpses were disinterred and relocated to the new church. The city government attempted to take the church’s former cemetery in the 1930s for the construction of a playground, under the argument that it was legally a town cemetery. In 1963, the Post Office wanted to buy Old St. James to tear it down for a new post office. The church rejected their offer.

The church was extensively repaired and expanded several times in the 18th and 19th centuries, including a major expansion in 1883. The old church building was used as a parish hall and Sunday school until 1941 when a new parish hall was built behind the newer St. James Episcopal Church. Since then, it has been used by several community groups, and was restored in 2004.

Saint James Church is designed in the English Colonial style and consists of the original main section and a rear section built in 1883. The interior features extensive carving and other decorative woodwork features. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the church as a city landmark in 2017. The commission stated that the church was historically significant as the second-oldest church still standing in New York City, behind the Old Quaker Meeting House in Flushing, as well as the oldest surviving Anglican building and Church of England mission church.