The Church of the Ascension is an Episcopal church in the Diocese of New York, located at 36–38

Fifth Avenue Fifth Avenue is a major thoroughfare in the borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan in New York City. The avenue runs south from 143rd Street (Manhattan), West 143rd Street in Harlem to Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village. The se ...

and West 10th Street in the

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

neighborhood of

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. It was built in 1840–41, the first church to be built on Fifth Avenue and was designed by

Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-American architect who immigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to popula ...

in the

Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

. The interior was remodeled by

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect and a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms at the turn of the 20th century. White designed many houses ...

in 1885–88. The church's parish house, at 12 West 11th Street between Fifth Avenue and the

Avenue of the Americas Sixth Avenue, also known as Avenue of the Americas, is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The avenue is commercial for much of its length, and traffic runs northbound, or uptown. Sixth Avenue begins four blocks b ...

(Sixth Avenue), was originally built in 1844 as a residence, and was altered to its current state in 1888–89 by

McKim, Mead and White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

in a Northern Renaissance-inspired style. The church became a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1987. Both the church and parish house are part of the

Greenwich Village Historic District Greenwich Village, or simply the Village, is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to the north, Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the s ...

, designated by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the Government of New York City, New York City agency charged with administering the city's Historic preservation, Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting Ne ...

in 1969.

Parish history

The Church of the Ascension was first organized in 1827, and their first church – located on the north side of Canal Street east of

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

"Church of the Ascension (Episcopal)
New York City Chapter of the American Guild of Organists website – was one of the early Greek Revival buildings in the city, designed by the city's first professional architectural firm, Town & Thompson, the partnership of

Ithiel Town Ithiel Town (October 3, 1784 – June 13, 1844) was an American architect and civil engineer. One of the first generation of professional architects in the United States, Town made significant contributions to American architecture in the f ...

and Martin Euclid Thompson. Built in 1828–29, the church burned down in 1839, prompting the move to the parish's current location and church. Until the new church was completed, the parish met in a number of places for two years. Not long after the church opened, on June 26, 1844, United States President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected ...

married

Julia Gardiner Julia Gardiner Tyler ( Gardiner; May 4, 1820 – July 10, 1889) was the first lady of the United States from June 26, 1844, to March 4, 1845, as the second wife of President John Tyler. A member of the influential Gardiner family, she had many ...

. Since Gardiner was much younger than Tyler,

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

called the couple the "laughing-stock of the city." In 1865, under then-rector James Cotton Smith, the parish began a mission church – originally the Chapel of the Shepherd's Flock, later the Ascension Memorial Chapel – at 249 West 43rd Street, building a sanctuary there in 1895. This acquired the nickname of "The Little Brick Church in Times Square". In response to the Wall Street Crash of 1929, the rector Donald Bradshaw Aldrich opened the doors of the church 24-hours a day for prayer and meditation, earning the church the name "The Church of the Open Door". This policy was in effect for decades: about 30,000 people visited the church in the 1960s. Although the doors are not still open around the clock, the stained-glass windows are illuminated at night. In 2020, it reported 204 members, average attendance of 120, and $413,348 in plate and pledge income.

Buildings

Richard Upjohn's design for the church is "closely related" to his designs for Trinity Church in Manhattan, which began construction slightly earlier, in 1839, and Christ Church in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, which came afterwards. The brownstone church is symmetrical, and features a square tower. Stanford White's interior design was "one of the great collaborative efforts of the era", and features a pulpit designed by

Charles Follen McKim Charles Follen McKim (August 24, 1847 – September 14, 1909) was an American Beaux-Arts architect of the late 19th century. Along with William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White, he provided the architectural expertise as a member of the par ...

; mosaics by D. Maitland Armstrong; a marble

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

by Louis Saint-Gaudens, the brother of

Augustus Saint-Gaudens Augustus Saint-Gaudens (; March 1, 1848 – August 3, 1907) was an American sculpture, sculptor of the Beaux-Arts architecture, Beaux-Arts generation who embodied the ideals of the American Renaissance. Saint-Gaudens was born in Dublin to an Iris ...

; several stained glass windows by

John LaFarge John La Farge (March 31, 1835 – November 14, 1910) was an American artist whose career spanned illustration, murals, interior design, painting, and popular books on his Asian travels and other art-related topics. La Farge made stained glass ...

and his altar mural ''The Ascension'', a by piece considered to be one of his best works The parish house designed by

took a previously existing building and turned it into a Northern Renaissance-inspired building of yellow brick with bottle-glass windows.

Organ

The church has had a series of organs since its construction in 1840–41. The current organ is The Manton Memorial Orga

which was dedicated on May 1, 2011. The organ was built by Pascal Quoirin of St. Didier in

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

, France. It is the first organ built in France to be installed in New York City and replaced a Holtkamp Organ Company instrument built in 1966.

Gallery

File:Church of the Ascension (New York), from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views crop.jpg, A late 19th century photograph of the church File:Ascension-lafarge.jpg, ''The Ascension'' by

(1835-1910) File:Church of the Ascension Parish House.jpg, Parish House (1843–44), altered in 1888-89 by

McKim, Mead & White McKim, Mead & White was an American architectural firm based in New York City. The firm came to define architectural practice, urbanism, and the ideals of the American Renaissance in ''fin de siècle'' New York. The firm's founding partners, Cha ...

File:Church of the Ascension Rectory.jpg, alt=Rectory (1839–41): 145–146, Rectory (1839–41)

References

Notes

External links