St. Paul's Chapel & Graveyard

History and architecture

Among the very few Eighteenth Century buildings which remain to us today, St. Paul's Chapel is undoubtedly the most notable both architecturally and historically. The fact that it is the oldest existing church edifice in New York and that it has outlived all of its contemporaries, including the famous Dutch Reformed Churches, some of which were built at a later date, is remarkable. The architect, Thomas McBean, designed the church to face the river, with its back to Broadway; the east porch was added three years later as a concession to the persistent demands of that busy thoroughfare. General Richard Montgomery is buried beneath the cast porch of the Chapel, and the memorial monument, made of marble and carved by the Italian sculptor, Jaques Caffieri, was ordered by Congress, January 25, 1776.

St. Paul's Chapel is built of rough-dressed local stone cut in blocks hardly larger than cobblestones. These are handsomely reinforced at the window openings by brownstone frames, and at the corners by dressed stones or quoins. The most notable feature of this historic church is its spire which was built in 1794 by James Crommelin Lawrence.

Thomas McBean was a student of James Gibbs of London, and it is interesting to note the resemblance of the Chapel to the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London, one of Gibbs' masterpieces. When Lawrence designed the steeple 28 years after the Chapel was built, he followed the lines of the London church steeple.

Everything about this church, from the handsome iron fence which surrounds it to the balustrade which crowns its roof and unifies it with its porch, is notable, and, as viewed by New Yorkers today, represents the epitome of the Georgian period of architecture.

Since Trinity Church had been destroyed in the Great Fire of 1776, St. Paul's Chapel was the place of the religious service following George Washington's inauguration as the first President in 1789. The fact that this is the only Church in New York in which George Washington worshipped, is in itself sufficient claim to fame, but a tour through its burying-ground will be a sure indication that it is one of the most hallowed places in the City.