Calvary Church

277 Park Avenue South | Gramercy | built 1890

Open on the map9 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1848

    James Renwick Jr. completes the Gothic Revival Calvary Church

    A cornerstone was laid in 1846, and Calvary's brownstone Gothic Revival church, designed by James Renwick Jr., was completed in 1848 at Fourth Avenue and 21st Street, now Park Avenue South. Renwick based the design on French double-spired churches, with three entrance doors facing the avenue and three gables holding rose windows with brownstone tracery. Two wooden towers rose at the avenue corners.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1859

    October 25

    Chester A. Arthur marries Ellen Herndon at Calvary Church

    Calvary became a favored church for society weddings. Future president Chester A. Arthur married Ellen Lewis Herndon there on October 25, 1859, and General George B. McClellan wed there on May 22, 1860. Later weddings included that of Alva and William Kissam Vanderbilt, reported as the grandest the city had seen in years.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1860

    May 22

    George B. McClellan marries at Calvary Church

    George B. McClellan, who would organize the Army of the Potomac in the Civil War, was married at Calvary Church on May 22, 1860. The Gothic Revival church designed by James Renwick Jr. had been completed twelve years earlier, in 1848.

    “General George B. McClellan (1826-1885) ... the major general during the American Civil War who organized the Army of the Potomac, was married in Calvary Church on May 22, 1860.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1860

    September

    Calvary Church's unstable wooden spires come down

    The church's two wooden spires became unstable and were taken down in September 1860. Octagonal bases remained in their place, but they deteriorated over time and were removed in 1929.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1875

    Alva Smith marries William K. Vanderbilt at Calvary Church

    William Vanderbilt, a grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, married Alva Smith at Calvary in 1875, a ceremony the Flatiron/NoMad history page calls New York society's wedding of the decade. He later built her Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island, for her 39th birthday.

    Source: flatironnomad.nyc

  6. 1896

    Calvary's rector Henry Yates Satterlee is consecrated first Episcopal Bishop of Washington

    In 1896 Calvary's rector, Henry Yates Satterlee, was consecrated as the first Episcopal Bishop of Washington in a ceremony held in his own church. He went on to secure Mount Saint Alban as the site of Washington National Cathedral and laid its main cornerstone in 1907. Calvary parishioners gave the new cathedral its baptismal font.

    “In 1896, the rector of Calvary, Henry Yates Satterlee, was consecrated the first Episcopal Bishop of Washington in a ceremony in Calvary Church.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 1925

    Rev. Samuel Shoemaker helps shape Alcoholics Anonymous's spiritual roots

    Rev. Samuel Shoemaker was Calvary's rector from 1925 to 1952, and during his tenure Calvary House became the American center of the Oxford Group, whose ideas fed into Alcoholics Anonymous. A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson wrote that "most of A.A.'s spiritual principles" came through Shoemaker, who is remembered as a co-founder and spiritual leader of the fellowship.

    Source: Wikipedia

  8. 1928

    Rector Sam Shoemaker opens Calvary House, a hostel that shelters alcoholics

    After tearing down the old rectory in 1927-28, Calvary's rector Samuel Shoemaker opened Calvary House in 1928. The multipurpose building held church facilities and also served as a hostel, which sheltered alcoholics, including Ebby T. for a time. Shoemaker also ran a separate mission for people in desperate circumstances.

    Source: aa.org

  9. 1974

    Calvin Hampton's midnight Friday organ recitals draw late-night crowds to Calvary

    Organist Calvin Hampton gave Friday recitals at Calvary that began at midnight, which one speaker dated to 1974-1984 and called "Studio 54 for the religious minded." The organ music was often paired with a light show, and Hampton encouraged listeners to lie on the floor. Programs ranged from towering Bach fugues to his own compositions. Hampton died of AIDS in 1984.

    Source: lansingcitypulse.com

Further reading

Nearby

All 40 buildings with stories in Gramercy