Fragment of Old St. Bartholomew’s Church – Great Jones Street and Lafayette Street New York City

                                                                                                                                                                         Google Street Maps

I absolutely loathe the Byzantine style church outside and inside, a wanna be Episcopal Cathedral, at 50^th Street and Park Ave. NYC.

But that is my taste.

St.Bartholomew's Episcopal Church (Manhattan)

The original congregation began at a humble site in the East Village at Great Jones Street and Lafayette Place 1835.

Over the years, taking the old “6” MTA bus north, I often noticed the fragment of church building amongst the industrial buildings of the area.

After some research I believe the building fragment above is a piece of the original old St. Bart’s.

It is not unusual for buildings to be sold and chopped up and standing after their so-called demise. I believe that pieces of the original Columbia main college hall on Murray Street survived the selling of the building. Evidence of the size of lots on Murray Street suggest that fragments of the original building stood on their own, along supporting wall lines and subsequent lot lines, after the building’s so-called demise. Recycling was a virtue in olden days.

The building of the church there on Great Jones Street and Lafayette is no doubt the reason retired merchant Seabury Tredwell bought a house on the next street on East Fourth Street.  Tredwell was one of the founding members of the St. Bartholomew Church. His house, the Merchant’s House is now a museum. His daughter Gertrude lived there for 93 years from birth to death. Gertrude is part of New York City urban legends in that she is said to be the inspiration for the novel Washington Square by author Henry James, adapted several times into cinema. Story is that Gertrude fell in love with a Catholic doctor and her father refused permission for a such a union and mixed marriage, not to say compromise of his standing in his Episcopal congregation.

The original building of the Church of St. Bartholomew (Episcopal) at Great Jones Street and Lafayette Place, New York City, erected in 1836

3/15/14 Item still under research and not anything definitive at this time. 

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