St. George's Episcopal Church on Stuyvesant Square

St. George's Episcopal Church is a historic landmark located at 209 East 16th Street on Stuyvesant Square in Manhattan. It is described as one of the first and most significant examples of Early Romanesque Revival church architecture in America. Architects Charles Otto Blesch and Leopold Eidlitz designed the church between 1846 and 1856, pulling inspiration from the Rundbogenstil, or round-arch style, of the Ludwigskirche in Munich.

The building suffered a fire in 1865 and was rebuilt within two years under the supervision of Eidlitz. The pastor at the time, Stephen H. Tyng, was a leader in the evangelical wing of the Episcopal Church. Under Tyng's instructions, the rebuilt altar was a plain table. Nearly twenty years later, in 1889, the spires on the two towers were removed.

For several decades, J.P. Morgan served as the senior warden and most influential parishioner, leading to the church being colloquially referred to as 'Morgan's Church.' By 1880, the neighborhood was surrounded by a population of Catholic and Jewish immigrants, and the original parishioners had moved elsewhere under the pressure of these new populations. Morgan used his influence to help finance social programs, including soup kitchens and an industrial school, and in 1886 he gifted the St. George Memorial House to the parish.

Today, the church remains a National Historic Landmark. It stands as a significant architectural site in the Stuyvesant Square Historic District, preserved since its designation in 1967.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons