St. Paul and St. Agnes, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens

Over the course of decades, the Diocese of Brooklyn has merged several parishes in South Brooklyn (older designation) or Cobble Hill (newer designation) and Carroll Gardens.  In 2011, two churches and two offices are open, but the combined parish of St. Peter and St. Agnes is a single parish, its informative website newly created and linked here.  



Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.



The residence of the administrator and the morning office address is 234 Congress Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201. The above photos are taken along Congress St.  The second photo shows Congress Street eastward towards busy Court St.
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The parish now carries the name of St. Paul and St. Agnes, and its website is linked here. The afternoon office and parish hall is at 433 Sackett Street, Brooklyn NY 11231, telephone 718-625-1717, adjacent to St. Agnes church.
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From the AIA Guide, it would seem that much of St. Paul's church at Court and Congress Streets was designed and built about 1838 by Gamaliel King, allowing the claim that this church is the oldest Catholic church in continuous use in Brooklyn. The steeple was added in the 1860's, and other enlargements were made. The church fronts on Court Street, the chapel and former rectory on Congress Street. For a while, the parish had three names: St. Peter (from the church on Hicks Street that is now a condo), Our Lady of Pilar, and St. Paul. The signs now name it as the parish of St. Peter and St. Agnes, with services alternating between the two church buildings.


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St. Paul's parish school at 205 Warren Street closed in 1973. A good friend of mine is recalls with gratitude the education she received there in the early 1940's.
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Above, looking east on Sackett Street, Carroll Gardens, we see St. Agnes Church at the intersection of Hoyt Street. Clicking on any photo enlarges it.
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Thomas F. Houghton was the architect for the design of this church when it was built in 1905. Houghton, who lived 1842-1913, was the son-in-law of the famous church-builder Patrick Keely. Keely designed the older church building here. The present church was built in 1905 to replace the earlier church that burned in 1901. An account of the fire is here.

The above view looks west on Sackett Street.

Presumably, the above statue represents St. Agnes, a young virgin-martyr in Rome about the year 300.


John Loughlin, Bishop of Brooklyn, established the parish of St. Agnes in 1878, when this neighborhood was probably thought of as Brooklyn or South Brooklyn. The name Carroll Gardens is relatively new, promoted in a successful attempt to sell homes at higher prices. The magnificence of this 1905 church and of the nearby houses may show that the neighborhood was already a good place, near the busy ports and industries of Erie Basin and the Gowanus Canal. About 2008, the parish was combined with that of St. Paul (from which it was sliced in 1878?), so that Masses alternate between the two churches. Please see the new parish website here.
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The parish school closed in 1988. Above is the parish hall, the subject of a post card in the Brooklyn Eagle Post Cards, Series 27, No. 158. There are nine windows on the second floor as in the photo above. The title of the postcard is "St. Agnes' Church, Sackett and Hoyt Streets." No date of the photo is given. Calling this building a church is puzzling. Was it an interim church after the fire?
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An article from the Manchester, Michigan, Enterprise, dated 12.16.2010, linked here, states that Father Edwin Fisher had three field stone churches all built to the same design, and one is St. Agnes.  However, here is a photo of St. Mary's church in Manchester, Michigan, and it shows few resemblances to St. Agnes.  Maybe the news story is a false lead because of some lack of precision.  St. Agnes is apparently not built of field stone, and the steeple is on the corner.
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I was glad to receive this note from a former parishioner of St. Agnes:
Just now found your site on St. Agnes Church and School!!!  I graduated from the school in 1945 and received a great education there.  My maiden name was Barbara DiNapoli and I lived at 380 Union Street.  I would so very much like to locate some of my friends from way, way back then and hope you might have heard from some.St. Agnes was/is a most beautiful church, probably one of the best in all the boroughs.  We were taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph.  I remember Father Bill Toomey, Father Griffen, and a Monsignor with an Irish brogue!  For the life of me I can't remember his name, but I can see his face as it was then.Hope you have some good referrals for me...my dad was a doctor and my grandparents lived at 90 Douglas Street!  What memories!!
Thank you.   Barbara DiNapoli Cody   tyebc@yahoo.com
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I was glad to receive this note from a former parishioner of St. Peter's:
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Joseph Murgolo a graduate of Saint Paul's School Class of 1963. The reason(s) that I am corresponding with you is the ask for your assistance in attempting to learn as much as I can about the years that I spent at Saint Paul's School ( 1955 to 1963 ). As to what  it is that I am seeking :

* Locate Photos , Biographies and Stories of the School , Church , Alumni , Sisters of Charity, Priest and Convent.

* Historical information about the surrounding community ( Ebels Restaurant , Corner Candy Store , Local Businesses and such).  During the time I attending Saint Paul's School I lived with my family  who also attended Saint Paul's School and Church. Please note that I am not asking you to put this data together for me. I just need to be pointed in a direction. In the meantime I have sent a letter to Saint Paul's Church business office requesting copies of the Sacraments received at Saint Paul's School.                                  Hopefully you have an idea of my journey. Please contact me if you need clarification.

Respectfully,

Joseph Murgolo, 102 Schuyler Drive,Huntersville , N.C. 28078

        

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St. Boniface, Duffield Street, Downtown

The website for the Oratory Church of St. Boniface is linked here. The church is at 190 Duffield Street, but the mailing address is 109 Willoughby Street, Brooklyn NY 11201, telephone 718-875-2086. The above photo looks north from the intersection of Duffield and Willoughby Streets.  A complex of large buildings called MetroTech looms north and west of the church. The parish location is truly downtown Brooklyn, with Lawrence Street, Jay Street, and Boro Hall subway stations nearby.

Designed by the prolific architect, Patrick Charles Keely, the church was built in 1872. It is maintained splendidly by the parishioners and the Oratorians. "Sacred Havens of Brooklyn," written by Terri Cook, describes the architecture well.  She points to a German prayer in one of the stained-glass window, as this congregation was formed by German Catholics in the 1850's.s
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On Easter, 2012, the New York Times featured St. Boniface parish in an article of some length, as linked here.
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An acquaintance suggested that I look at the video series "City of Churches," produced by Nick Vagas.  I have linked here his outstanding eighteen-minute video of St. Boniface parish.



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St. Charles Borromeo, Brooklyn Heights

Above is the church of St. Charles Borromeo at the corner of Sidney Place and Aiken Place in Brooklyn Heights. The parish address is 21 Sidney Place, Brooklyn NY 11201, telephone 718-625-1177. This location is two blocks west of Borough Hall and just south of Joralemon Street. The parish website is linked here. The parish Facebook page is linked HERE. A two-minute video discussion of the stained glass window is linked HERE.

Clicking on any photo will enlarge it. To the right of this sign is a cornerstone bearing the date 1896. I understand that this church was designed by Patrick Keely.

Above is the parish school, now closed. A sign in the window inquires whether neighbors would have a need for pre-school here. The cornerstone is dated 1916.

On Sidney Place, a convent is to the right of the school.

Our Lady of Lebanon, Brooklyn Heights

Our Lady of Lebanon Cathedral is on the northeast corner of Henry Street and Remsen Street, only three blocks west of Brooklyn Borough Hall. The postal address of this parish is 113 Remsen St., Brooklyn NY 11201, telephone 718-624-7228. The cathedral's website is linked here. The website of the Eparchy (diocese) is here. Both websites are beautiful, even if a few months stale.

People have been singing the Lord's praises in this building since it was built under the direction of Richard Upjohn in 1846.

The Remsen Street entrance to the church has these doors from the passenger liner Normandie. Any photo may be enlarged by clicking on it.

The main door of the church has these panels from the passenger liner Normandie. Note the cedars of Lebanon above. I met two women from France also taking photographs of these doors. They said that one of the medallions shows the cathedral of Rouen. Again, clicking will enlarge the photo.
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Linked here is a Time magazine article from July, 1945, about the purchase of these doors. It seems that the Church of the Pilgrims moved out in late 1944 and the Maronite Catholics from Lebanon moved in during 1945.

St James Cathedral, Jay Street

In November of 2017, the Brooklyn Eagle (web version) published this article, which mentions interior renovations to St. James Cathedral.

The cathedral doors are often locked.  The above sign indicates that one may visit the church 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday.  Clicking on any photo will enlarge it.
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Please click on the word Comments above the photo to read 15 important comments, including a request for a photo of the graduating class of 1965, St. James Pro-Cathedral elementary school.  

The mailing address of St. James Cathedral is 250 Cathedral Place, Brooklyn NY 11201, telephone 718-855-6390. The above photo shows the cathedral on Jay Street, just north of congested Tillary Street, in the few blocks between the approaches to Brooklyn Bridge and to Manhattan Bridge. The history of this parish goes back to 1822. See the cathedral website here. The see of Brooklyn was created in 1853. It seems that there was a fire in the cathedral in 1889 and that the current structure was built in 1903, according to the AIA Guide to New York City. The architect at that time was George H. Streeton, who also designed the church of the Guardian Angel on West 23rd Street, Manhattan, in 1910, only to have that church destroyed about 1930 for the construction of the New York Central Railroad's freight elevated line, likewise short-lived. Streeton also designed St. Raphael's church at 502 West 41st Street, Manhattan, still standing.
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For about a century, this church was known as the Pro-Cathedral, in hopes that a larger cathedral would be built somewhere. The bus in the photo has as its destination 310 Prospect Park West and 19th Street, the location of some diocesan offices. After streetcar service ceased on this route about 1957, the diocese bought the carbarn at 20th Street and built Bishop Ford High School there.

Jay Street was narrower until about 1933. To construct an Independent Subway junction under Jay Street, the parish buildings on the west side of the street were cut back severely. The high school was moved to St. Augustine's parish and to the new Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School, where the school newspaper is still called The Jamesonian. The parish elementary school closed in 1973. The above photo shows the building on the west side of Jay Street.  Over the north door, a sign says Cathedral Pavilion, but other signs indicate use by a charter school. About 1985 or 1990, we heard an address by Mario Cuomo here, followed by a question-and-answer period.



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Assumption parish, Brooklyn Heights

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary church is at 55 Cranberry Street, just west of Cadman Plaza and the entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge. The mailing address is 64 Middagh Street, Brooklyn NY 11201, phone 718-625-1161. The parish website is linked here.
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The parish school closed in 1962. Please see the parish website for an excellent history of the parish. When the parish was first established in 1842, the church was built at the corner of York and Jay Streets. Decades later, that site was seized by eminent domain for the construction of Manhattan Bridge.
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Please click on the word "Comment" above to read an inquiry about the building.