Grace Church
802 Broadway At 10th St
New York, NY 10003
When it was time to build a new Grace Church in 1843 many reputable architects tried to get the job, however the task went to James Renwick Jr, a 24 year old man who in fact had never even built anything! The only resume builder he had was supervising on the Croton reservoir at 42nd Street. His family however did have good knowledge when it came to building. Even before Gothic style was popular on new buildings the French Gothic Revival chosen for the Grace church is believed to have been influenced by the rector, Thomas House Taylor, who spent a year in Europe before residing in NYC. Guesses are Mr. Taylor relayed this information to Mr. Renwick, however Mr. Renwick had never even a Gothic building before so he made sure she researched and read every book that described it. The Grace Church became know as a fashionable church, even though it was rebuilt in 1883. What else has Mr Renwick supplied us with...? None other than the Smithsonian Institution and of course St. Patrick’s Cathedral, to name a few. Amazing.. so maybe if you give a newbie a chance they will surprise you, immensely...
The NYC Landmark is located on Broadway between East 10th and East 11th Street.
Info and picture from GraceChurch, Wikipedia
