St. Augustine's Church is located at 290 Henry Street between Montgomery and Jackson Streets on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 2021, it reported 46 members, average attendance of 22, and $62,280 in plate and pledge income.

History

The church began in 1819 as a mission near the old

Grand Street Ferry The Grand Street Ferry was a ferry route connecting Manhattan and Williamsburg, Brooklyn, New York City, joining Grand Street (Manhattan) and Grand Street (Brooklyn) across the East River. History The first ferry connecting Manhattan to William ...

run by students of the

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal Church (United States), Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating ...

. Led by former mayor,

Marinus Willett Colonel Marinus Willett (July 31, 1740 – August 22, 1830) was an American military officer, politician and merchant who served as the mayor of New York City from 1807 to 1808. Willett is best known for his actions during the American Revolut ...

, the mission grew. It was organized as a parish in 1824, and construction began on All Saints' Free Church ("Free" meaning free of

pew rent A pew () is a long bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating members of a congregation or choir in a synagogue, church, funeral home or sometimes a courtroom. Occasionally, they are also found in live performance venues (such as the Ryma ...

),, pp.62–63 around 1827. It was built of

Manhattan schist In the United States, the Manhattan Prong of the New England Uplands is a smaller belt of ancient rock in southern New York (including Manhattan, the Bronx, and segments of Brooklyn and Staten Island), parts of Westchester County, and upland po ...

., p.48 Around this time "Mount Pitt" (also known as Jones Hill), near Pitt and Grand Streets, was being leveled, and some of field stone used was taken from there."St. Augustine Episcopal Church", NYC AGO
/ref> The design – a Georgian structure with

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

windows, p.92 – is credited to John Heath, and includes a double

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

and a projecting

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

. The church was consecrated in 1828 by Bishop

John Henry Hobart John Henry Hobart (September 14, 1775 – September 12, 1830) was the third Episcopal bishop of New York (1816–1830). He vigorously promoted the extension of the Episcopal Church in upstate New York, as well as founded both the General T ...

Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic who is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales involving mystery and the macabre. He is widely re ...

used to attend on occasion during the church's early years. Traditionally, it is thought that two rough galleries on either side of the organ loft might have been for the use of slaves, despite the church having been built after slaves were emancipated in New York. The building was enlarged in 1848 with the addition of a

sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred space, sacred place, such as a shrine, protected by ecclesiastical immunity. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This seconda ...

and a

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

.Historical marker on the church. Accessed: 2001-09-03 In 1949, the congregation merged with St. Augustine's Chapel of Trinity Church, then located at 107

East Houston Street Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City, New York. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson ...

, and the new combined congregation used the building on Henry Street., p.193 The parish became independent of Trinity in 1976. The building became a

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and c ...

in 1966, and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1980.

References

External links

*
Official websiteSt. Augustine's/All Saints records at Trinity Wall Street Archives
Churches completed in 1829 19th-century Episcopal church buildings Churches in Manhattan Episcopal church buildings in New York City Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan Georgian Revival architecture in New York City Federal architecture in New York City Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Stone churches in New York City Lower East Side {{NewYork-Anglican-church-stub