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. Traditionally an im ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. 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 Williams ...

run by students of the

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

. Led by former mayor, Marinus Willett, 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 (furniture), bench seat or enclosed box, used for seating Member (local church), members of a Church (congregation), congregation or choir in a Church (building), church, synagogue or sometimes a courtroom. Overview ...

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

Manhattan schist Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

., 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 Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

structure with

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

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

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

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 Th ...

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

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 place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

and a

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

.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, 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 cu ...

in 1966, and was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

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 {{Manhattan-church-stub