St. George's Church

History and architecture

Many buildings in New York are difficult to encompass fully because they are so often located in blocks facing on narrow streets. In the case of St. George's Church, however, beautifully located on a corner site facing a public square, it is possible to get an uninterrupted view of two sides with no intervening obstructions. This massive exterior radiates solidity and creates an impression of permanence on the west side of Stuyvesant Square.

A fine rose window is a conspicuous feature of the heavily decorated end gable of the nave. The color of the smooth sandstone facing is handsome, as are the two Romanesque towers flanking the three arched entrances with arcade above. Although the towers once had spires, they nonetheless appear satisfactorily complete without them. The high sturdy buttresses along the south side of the Church, placed between the windows of the nave, and the small decorative arches along the edge of the roof are consistently in character with the details of the impressive front.

The cornerstone of St. George's Church was laid in 1846; the Church opened for services in 1848, and the building was completed in 1856. The edifice was built on land donated by Peter Stuyvesant and is adjacent to the park which was named for that benefactor. At the time the Church was built, according to a diarist of 1868, this area was "a howling wilderness".

In 1865, the Church was partly destroyed by a fire, rebuilt according to its original plan and reopened in 1867. Originally, beautiful spires, displaying handsome open stone work, adorned the church, but they were declared unsafe in 1888 and removed the following year. In 1964 parts of the exterior and all of the interior surfaces were renovated and restored.