St. Paul's Chapel, New York City
Built in 1766, St. Paul's Chapel is New York's only surviving pre-Revolutionary church and the oldest public building in continuous use in New York City.
St. Paul's Chapel, at Broadway and Fulton Street in Manhattan, is connected with the nearby Trinity Church. It served as a transition shelter for homeless men until it was transformed into a relief center after September 11. It returned to its former duties in mid-2002.
Built by Thomas McBean, with a temple-like portico and fluted Ionic columns supporting a massive pediment, the chapel resembles London's St. Martin-in-the-Fields. In the small graveyard, 18th- and early-19th-century notables rest in peace and modern businesspeople sit for lunch.
History
St. Paul's Chapel has seen a great deal of important American history in the centuries since it was built.
The chapel was originally founded by the congregation of Trinity Church to accommodate parishioners living on the northern outskirts of the city. It was consecrated on October 30, 1776.
On September 21, 1776, a great fire of suspicious origins raged through Manhattan, destroying Trinity Church and many other buildings. St. Paul's Chapel was saved from destruction by a bucket brigade from the Hudson River.
On April 30, 1789, George Washington attended a service of thanksgiving at St. Paul's Chapel after his inauguration as the first President of the United States. After taking his oath of office, Washington walked up Broadway to the Chapel accompanied by a procession that included the Vice President, the Speaker of the House, and both Houses of Congress. It was the first taste of presidential pomp for the American public. St. Paul's Chapel remained President Washington's place of worship until the capital of the U.S. moved from New York to Philadelphia in 1790.
The steeple of St. Paul's Chapel was added on December 1, 1794, making the chapel more prominent in the growing city.
President George Washington died at his home in Mount Vernon on December 14, 1799, at age 67. The vestry of Trinity Church held an official memorial service for Washington on December 31, 1799. Mr. Gouverneur Morris, known for drafting the Constitution, offered Washington's eulogy.
On July 7, 1831, President James Monroe's funeral service was held at St. Paul's Chapel three days after his death. His funeral procession was the largest ever held in New York.
On December 14, 1899, to commemorate the centennial of George Washington's death, St. Paul's draped the exterior of the Chapel in American flags. As Washington's former place of worship, St. Paul's held a special memorial service for the public.
On February 21, 1904, the Vicar of St. Paul's Chapel instituted services in the wee hours of the morning for workers whose jobs required them to work at night. St. Paul's announced the first service for the first Sunday in Lent at 2:30 AM.
In a special service at St. Paul's Chapel on October 21, 1954, former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt addressed the congregation on behalf of the United Nations.
On August 5, 1966, a groundbreaking ceremony officially began the construction of the World Trade Center across the street from St. Paul's Chapel. The north tower opened in December 1970, and the south tower opened in January 1972. During the construction, St. Paul's planned to open a new entrance gate to the Chapel on Church Street. The Vicar suggested "an expanded ministry in and from St. Paul's Chapel to the new community signified by the new World Trade Center - a ministry both in service to the City and in visible witness of the building and its services of worship."
On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center came under terrorist attack and both towers crashed to the ground. St. Paul's Chapel remained standing, thanks in large part to a tree in the churchyard that shielded the blast. Nevertheless, the building and churchyard were covered in inches of dust from the Twin Towers' collapse. After engineers inspected the building and pronounced it fit for occupancy, rescue workers, police officers, and firefighters began to come to the Chapel to eat and rest.
Three days later, on September 14, 2001, President George W. Bush called for a national ringing of bells as a memorial to those who lost their lives on September 11th. Dr. Matthews, Rector of Trinity Church asked the building staff of St. Paul's Chapel to ring St. Paul's bells. Without electricity and limited access to the restricted zone, Mike Borrero, Jim Doran, and the Reverend Lyndon Harris carefully climbed St. Paul's dark, wooden bell tower. While Jim held a flashlight, Mike found a steel pipe and "whacked" the bell 12 times. Rescuers at Ground Zero removed their hats and stood in silence.
More Information
- St. Paul's Chapel - Official Website
