Sacred Heart, Fort Greene

Sacred Heart church stands on Clermont Avenue between Park Avenue (to the left and south) and Flushing Avenue (to the right, with the Navy Yard).  The parish was established in 1871 and this church completed in 1877.  About 2008 Bishop Dimarzio renamed the parish Mary of Nazareth parish, with the absorption of St. Michael - St. Edward parish, later closed.    His decree dated 11.12.2010 suppressed the parish of St. Lucy - St. Patrick and merged it into the parish of Mary of Nazareth, 41 Adelphi Street, but St. Lucy - St. Patrick continues to show up on the diocesan list of parishes.   When I took these photos of Sacred Heart church in April, 2012, I could find no exterior Mass schedule, but the diocesan website shows a Thursday 7:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish and a Sunday bilingual Mass at 10:30 a.m.  The diocesan website also lists Mass four times a week at St. Patrick's church, Kent and Willoughby Avenues.

The rectory at the right is at 41 Adelphi Street, Brooklyn, New York 11205, telephone 718-625-5115.

The large school bears the name Sacred Heart Institute from an earlier era.  From 1973 to 1985 it was Fort Greene Catholic.  Now, the closest door has two signs, Greenhill School and Sacred Heart Religious Instruction Center.  The 2011 edition of the Official Catholic Directory states that there were 125 students in religious education.

According to this document on Wallabout Cultural Resources, Thomas F. Houghton designed the church, the rectory, and the institute.
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On 5.8.2014, a reader wrote (see comment below) that she would like photos of the interior of the church.  She also remarked about the organ.  The New York organ project offers a description of the church and its organ, linked here.
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Queen of All Saints, Fort Greene

The church and school of Queen of All Saints are on the north side of Layfayette Avenue at Vanderbilt Avenue, with the postal address 300 Vanderbilt Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11205. The rectory telephone is 718-638-7625. An informative and inspirational parish website is linked here.  The school telephone is 718-857-3114.   The church was built about 1913 as a chapel for the planned cathedral across the street. 


The parish school has been renamed Queen of All Saints Catholic Academy, but the website seems to be down (9.2.2016).


A friend tells me that the morning sun beautifully illuminates the windows.  An interior photo from 1913 is linked here.  The architect was Gustave Steinbeck, who also designed the impressive church of the Blessed Sacrament on West 71st Street, Manhattan.

St. Lucy - St. Patrick, Kent Avenue

Please read this decree concerning the merger of this parish into that of Mary of Nazareth, 41 Adelphi Street, effective January 31, 2011. The name of the parish is Mary of Nazareth, but the name of the church at 41 Adelphi Street is Sacred Heart. It is about a mile west of St. Patrick's.
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Note the 1843 date on the sign, ten years before the creation of the diocese of Brooklyn. According to John Sharp in "History of the Diocese of Brooklyn," vol. 1, p. 113, Catholics in this neighborhood "on the Newtown Road" (Flushing Avenue) purchased a Methodist church near what is now the intersection of Kent and Willoughby Avenues, and named their church St. Mary's. Bishop Hughes of New York sent them a pastor. About 1849, the parish was renamed St. Patrick's. The church shown below was dedicated by Bishop Loughlin of Brooklyn in 1856, three years after the diocese was created.



At the corner of Willoughby and Kent Avenue stands this church built in 1856 by the famous architect Patrick Charles Keely. My photos date from March, 2005. However, please also see this link
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In August, 2023, Brownstoner predicts that the church will be demolished. Yes,  it was demolished by the new owners in January, 2024.

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In the block adjacent to the left side of the church (that is, going downtown on Willoughby Avenue) is the historic property of the convent and orphanage of the Sisters of Mercy. The place is far more than historic; it is was important to many families for more than a century. A New York Times article is linked here.




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