St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Church
103 East 7th Street | also 107 East 7th Street | East Village | built 1901
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1884
St. Stanislaus parish, incorporated in 1884, anchors the Polish community of the East Village
The parish was incorporated in 1884 and became a leading institution in the East Village's large Polish community, which had been there since the middle of the 19th century. Before buying on East 7th Street it owned property on Henry Street and on Stanton Street. In 1899 it bought the four lots where its church now stands.
“…was incorporated in 1884 and had an important role in the large and vibrant Polish community that existed in the area since the mid 19th century…”
- 1899
A Polish parish buys four lots on East 7th Street and tears down three 1850s houses for a new church
St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr, a Polish Catholic congregation, bought four lots on the block in 1899, after earlier owning property on Henry Street and Stanton Street. Three houses built around 1853 stood on the land and were pulled down to clear the way for the church. A surviving house at 101 East 7th Street was converted into the church's rectory and office.
“Three houses standing on the lots (built c. 1853) were demolished for the construction of the church. The existing house at 101 East 7th Street was adapted for use as a rectory…”
- 1900
Danish-born Arthur Arctander designs the light-brick Gothic church with an open bell tower
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Arthur Arctander, who came to New York from Denmark in 1865, designed the church in light brick and terra cotta in the Gothic Revival style for the local Polish community. Much of his work was in the Bronx, where he lived, and consisted of tenements and utilitarian buildings, so a church was an unusual commission. The front has an open square bell tower with a thin steeple, and a cornerstone on the western corner reads "A.D. 1900."
“His light brick and terra cotta Gothic Revival style Saint Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church in the East Village was designed for the local Polish community.”
- 1901
Archbishop Corrigan and Bishop Farley dedicate the new Polish church on East 7th Street
The new Gothic Revival church, built in 1900 and 1901, was dedicated on May 19, 1901, by Archbishop Corrigan and Bishop Farley. The parish dates to 1872, when it formed around a small wooden church at 318 Henry Street, and later moved into a former Dutch Reformed church at 43 Stanton Street before settling on East 7th Street. It is the home of the oldest Polish Catholic parish in the Archdiocese of New York.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1999
Lech Walesa visits St. Stanislaus Church in 1999 and again in 2001
Village Preservation records that Lech Walesa, the former Polish president, visited the church in 1999 and again in 2001. The parish is described there as the oldest Polish Roman Catholic congregation in Manhattan.
Further reading
- 103-107 East 7th StreetVillage Preservation: East Village Building Blocks
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