On March 7, 1846, Grace Church was consecrated at Broadway and 10th Street. Previously, from 1808, the church was located at the corner of Broadway and Rector Streets, directly across from old Trinity Church. According to Grace Church’s website:
“Although Grace Church was an independent foundation, never a chapel of Trinity, it was very much an outgrowth of Trinity, evidence that the Episcopal Church, as well as the city itself, was growing.”
In 1834, the church’s fourth rector, Thomas House Taylor, arrived from South Carolina and saw that the city was expanding to the north. By 1837, he had convinced his congregants that the time was right to follow this northward trend. Nine years later, the new Grace Church opened its doors.
The year 1846 was an exciting one for the Gothic Revival style. James Renwick Jr.’s design of Grace Church, along with that of Trinity Church on Wall Street by Richard Upjohn in the same year, marked the style’s introduction to New York City. Not only was Grace Church considered a masterpiece of its time in New York, but it was hailed at the time as one of the greatest Gothic works in the country. The land upon which the church was built was purchased from Henry Brevoort, Renwick’s uncle, who was a successful Dutch farmer and land holder who is most remembered for his friendship with Washington Irving.
Unlike medieval Gothic cathedrals, Grace is not built of stone, but rather of Sing Sing marble, marble stones cut by 19th century inmates that were part of walls of Sing Sing prison. It does, however, contain typical Gothic elements such as a rose window above the recessed doorway, a pattern of pointed-arch windows interrupted by exterior buttresses, an overall vertical emphasis culminating in the tall, narrow spire, and stained glass windows. The interior emulated the traditional Gothic style, too, with its plan consisting of a long nave, transept, and choir. The detailed rib vaulting is another notable element.
In 1966, Grace Church and its rectory were designated New York City Landmarks. In 1974, the entire church complex was listed on both the State and National Register of Historic Places.
Today, Grace Church is not surrounded by lush grass and trees as it once was, but it still serves as a beacon of the Village, sitting on the bend in Broadway and dominating views up the street.
