Manhattan's Historic Churches You Could Visit on a Sprinter Van Rental in NYC (Part 2)

FILED UNDER: General Bus Rentals NYC Tips and Tricks

 

 

 

When you tour a new city, the best way to do so is with a sprinter van rental in NYC.

 

 

Custom Coach & Limo strongly recommends touring Manhattan's historic churches and even hear mass in them. Some of these churches also host different events and programs. Plus they are also prime examples of different types of architectures.

 

Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton

 

The Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is located within the Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Manhattan's Financial District. The Roman Catholic Shrine was built in the 1960s and features a colonial revival and Georgian revival architecture. The church was designed by Shanley and Sturges, while the rectory was designed by John McComb, Jr. Even with the merger with St. Peter's, masses are still held at the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.

 

Church of the Heavenly Rest

 

The Church of the Heavenly Rest is located on the Upper East Side on the corner of 90th Street and Fifth Avenue. It stands opposite the Carnegie Mansion and Central Park. The congregation was founded in the 1860s as a memorial to Civil War casualties. The membership grew to around 1,000 members in 1900. The congregation was able to buy the land where the current church is in the 1920s. The current church has a neo-Gothic architecture designed by Mayers, Murray & Phillip. The church sponsors several choirs. The funeral for former president Chester A. Arthur was held in the church, while Gloria Swanson's ashes are also interred within the premises. The church also holds contemplative meditation on Monday nights, celebrates mass every Wednesday and Sunday, and a prayer service on Sunday evening.

 

We recommend riding a sprinter van rental in NYC so that everyone in your group would be comfortable and traveling will be convenient. It also saves you time and allows you to see more sights when you visit. Other churches you could visit are:

 

Eldridge Street Synagogue

 

Eldridge Street Synagogue is located in Manhattan's Chinatown area. The synagogue was built in the 1880s, making it one of the first Eastern European synagogues in the United States. It sports a Moorish revival architecture designed by Peter and Francis William Herter. It has a 70 foot vaulted ceiling, stained glass rose windows and intricate brass fixtures. It was recently reopened in 2007 after two decades of renovation work. It is also the site of the Museum at Eldridge Street, which offers educational tours that tell visitors about the American Jewish heritage, culture and history. Evening services by the Kahal Adath Jeshurun and daytime services by the Beth Midrash are still held there. The synagogue is a national historic landmark and was added to the NHRP in the 1980s.

 

Abyssinian Baptist Church

 

The Abyssinian Baptist Church is located on West 138th Street in Harlem. It was built in the 1920s and features a mix of Tudor revival and gothic revival architecture done by Charles W. Bolton & Son. The structure's "collegiate gothic" design features marble furnishings, and stained glass windows. Most parishioners are from the African American community. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr. and his son were ministers for the church, just two of several great ministers for the church. The church is also noted for its contribution to Harlem gospel. The church has Sunday and Wednesday services.

 

John Street Methodist Church

 

The John Street Methodist Church is found between William and Nassau streets in Manhattan's Financial District. The Georgian styled church building was built in the 1840s and Philip Embury and William Hurry are both credited with its design. This is the oldest Methodist congregation in the North American continent, having been founded in the 1760s. You could visit the Wesley Chapel Museum just below the sanctuary. The museum has several artifacts dating back to the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. it tells about the history of the American Methodist church and even include church record books, love feast cups, the Wesley Clock, class meeting circular benches, the original pulpit, and the original altar rail. Worship is every Sunday, while there are several activities that you can join all throughout the week.

 

Church of the Ascension

 

The Church of the Ascension is located in Manhattan's Greenwich Village and was built in the 1840s, making it the first church to be constructed on Fifth Ave. The design by Richard Upjohn features Gothic revival elements. The parish house was also built in the 1840s as a residence and was designed by McKim, Mead and White to have elements of Northern Renaissance architecture. The church was named a National Historic Landmark and added to the NHRP in the 1980s. The church also features an organ that was built by Pascal Quoirin, the first one to be built in France and installed in the Big Apple. The church currently has worship schedules daily except Saturdays.

 

First Church of Christ, Scientist

 

First Church of Christ, Scientist is located on One West 96th Street at Central Park West. There are several churches all over the northeast, but it is the neo-Georgian architecture of this 1904 church designed by Carrere and Hastings that has become the benchmark of each one. This church is made out of white Concord granite that has to be cut by hand because its hardness proved impenetrable by mechanical saws. Today, it houses the Crenshaw Christian Center East.

 

German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Mark

 

German Evangelical Lutheran Church of St. Mark is located in Manhattan's East Village. The building has a Renaissance revival style and was built in the 1840s. The building was sold to an Orthodox Jewish congregation that converted it into a community synagogue in the 1940s and then in 1946 the parish of St. Mark's was merged with Zion Church and because Zion St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church. The old building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. The church is best remembered because of the General Slocum disaster that killed most of its members in 1904 when their chartered steamboat caught fire during the church's summer outing.

 

Central Synagogue

 

The Central Synagogue is also known as the Congregation Ahavath Chesed. The synagogue is on Lexington Ave. It was built in the 1820s and features a Moorish revival architecture created by Henry Fernbach. It is one of the oldest synagogues buildings that still exists in the country. The synagogue was listed as a National Historic Landmark in the 1970s and added to the NRHP in 1970. Daily morning minyan, holiday services, and other celebrations are held here.

 

Church of the Holy Communion

 

The Church of the Holy Communion is located in the Flatiron District. Richard Upjohn designed the church's gothic revival in the 1840s. It was designated as a city landmark in the 1960s and was listed on the NRHP in the 1980s. It was later sold and is now the site of a David Barton Gym.

 

Cathedral of St. Patrick

 

The Cathedral of St. Patrick, the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York archbishop, is located across the Rockefeller Center's Atlas statue. It has a decorated neo gothic architecture designed by James Renwick, Jr. See the stained glass windows and the altars, which were designed by various artists including Paolo Medici and Dominic Borgia. The cathedral was extensively restored starting in 2012. Masses are held here daily.

 

Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava

 

The Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava is located in the NoMad section of Manhattan. It was built in the 1850s as the Trinity Chapel Complex. The church building has an English gothic revival architecture that was designed by Richard Upjohn, a noted architect at that time. In the 1940s, the church complex was sold to the Serbian Eastern Orthodox parish. The church building is a New York City landmark since the 1960s while the entire complex was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1980s.

 

St. Luke's Lutheran Church

 

Located in Manhattan's Theater District, St. Luke's Lutheran Church is also known as the German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Saint Luke's and the St. Luke's Evangelical Lutheran Church. The historic church was built in the 1920s and has a neo perpendicular architecture with late gothic art moderne details. Design for the church is credited to Edward L. Tilton at Tilton & Githens, while windows were designed by Francis Xavier Zettler. The church was listed on the NRHP in 2007. Worship services are held every Wednesday and Sunday.

 

St. George's Episcopal Church

 

St. George's Episcopal Church is located on Stuyvesant Square. the historic church is one of the most important examples of early Romanesque revival architecture in the country. Designed by Charles Otto Blesch and Leopold Eidlitz, the church was built in the 1840s through the 1850s. Notable congregants here include JP Morgan and Harry Thacker Burleigh who performed with the choir for five decades. The church was added to the NRHP and named as a national historic landmark in the 1970s. It was named as a New York City Landmark in the 1960s.

 

Saint Thomas Church

 

Saint Thomas Church is at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street. The Episcopal parish church was incorporated in the 1820s, while the current structure was built in the 1910s. The church has a French high gothic revival architecture that was created by architects Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and Ralph Adams Cram. This is the home of the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, which gives you traditional Anglican worship music. The choir has a full concert series every year. Also check out the stained glass windows in the church that were designed by James Humphries Hogan. The church offers three to four services every Sunday and several masses throughout the rest of the week.

 

As you can see there are a lot of historic churches that you can go to. So you really need a sprinter van rental in NYC to ensure that everyone in your group is comfortable. You also get to save time and visit more places!

 

Church of the Immaculate Conception

 

The Church of the Immaculate Conception and Clergy House is located in Manhattan's East Village. The structures were built in the 1890s and it was one of the most significant Episcopal churches in New York City during the time it opened. The building features a French gothic architecture that was designed by Barney & Chapmen's J. Stewart Barney. Henry Holiday and Clayton & Bell created the stained glass windows. Both the church and the clergy house were sold to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York in the 1940s. It was named a city landmark in the 1960s and then listed on the NRHP in the 1980s.

 

The Actors' Temple

 

The Actors' Temple was founded in the 1910s. It is located in Hell's Kitchen and was so named because Edward G. Robinson, Shelley Winters, Sophie Tucker, Al Jolson, Milton Berle, Joe E. Lewis, Jack Benny, and several actors, stage performers and TV stars came here to worship. The temple is officially known as Congregation Ezrath Israel. In recent years, however, the synagogue has suffered from dwindling membership. In 2009, they only had less than three dozen members, a sharp decline from around 300 members during its peak.

 

A sprinter van rental in NYC ensures that you and your group would be able travel in comfort and style. Take your luxurious van to:

 

Church of St. Mary the Virgin

 

The Church of Saint Mary the Virgin is located at the center of Times Square. The Episcopal Anglo-Catholic church has one of the best Gothic-inspired architecture for the late 19th century New York. It was named a city landmark in 1989 and then listed on the National Register of Historic Places a year after. The church was built in the 1890s and has a French gothic design created by Napoleon LeBrun & Sons, with Pierre Le Brun as the architect in charge. The church is known for its use of incense during their solemn liturgies, earning the nickname Smokey Mary's. You can attend the solemn high mass and the solemn evensong and benediction every Sunday. Mass is also celebrate for the rest of the week.

 

Church of the Holy Apostles

 

Church of the Holy Apostles is located in Chelsea. The historic church building was built in the 1840s and sports an Italianate architecture designed by Minard Lafever and later on by Charles Babcock. See the stained glass windows here that were designed by William Jay Bolton. The church was named as a city landmark in the 1960s and then added to the NRHP in the 1970s. They hold services on Sundays, and the rest of the week except Thursdays.

 

Church of the Incarnation

 

The Church of the Incarnation is located in Manhattan's Murray Hill area. While the congregation was founded in the 1850s, the church was built in the 1860s with several additions built over the next few decades. The church has a late gothic revival designed by Emlen T. Littel, while the rectory that was built in 1868 has a neo Jacobean design created by Robert Mook. Other architects who worked on the church design are David Jardine who was responsible for the rebuilding of the church in the 1880s, while Heins and LaFarge designed the spire. Further, Edward P. Casey designed the rectory in the 1900s. One of the reasons why you should visit here is the number of artworks that were created by notable artists such as Henry Hobson Richardson, John Lafarge, Louis Comfort Tiffany, Edward Burne-Jones, Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Daniel Chester French, and William Morris. The church also has a roster of notable parishioners, including Eleanor Roosevelt and Admiral David Farragut.

 

Read part 3 here.

 

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