Grace Church (Brooklyn Heights)

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Grace Church Brooklyn Heights
Grace Episcopal Church Brooklyn.jpg
Grace Church (Brooklyn Heights)
40°41′40.54″N73°59′45.83″W / 40.6945944°N 73.9960639°W / 40.6945944; -73.9960639
Location254 Hicks Street
Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Country United States
Denomination Episcopal Church
Churchmanship Broad Church
Website gracebrooklyn.org
History
Status Parish church
Architecture
Functional statusActive
Architect(s) Richard Upjohn
Style Gothic Revival
Years built1847–1848
Groundbreaking June 29, 1847
CompletedDecember 10, 1848
Administration
Province Province II
Diocese Episcopal Diocese of Long Island
Clergy
Rector The Rev. Dr. Allen F. Robinson
Laity
Organist/Director of music Paul Richard Olson (Organist-Choirmaster)

Grace Church Brooklyn Heights is a historic parish church in Brooklyn Heights, New York which is part of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. The church and Grace Church School, the oldest preschool in Brooklyn, is located at 254 Hicks Street and Grace Court within the Brooklyn Heights Historic District. The Church and school buildings were designed by architect Richard Upjohn.

Contents

History

Before the Church's founding, many Brooklyn Episcopalians crossed the East River into Lower Manhattan every Sunday to attend services at Grace Church, New York. In the early 1840s, a small group of Brooklyn Episcopalians established Emmanuel Church on Sydney Place. The parish quickly outgrew its space, and a new church was incorporated in 1847, taking the name Grace Church Brooklyn Heights. [1]

The Reverend Francis Vinton, the combined parish's first rector, with a building committee headed by Henry Evelyn Pierrepont and Col. Tunis Craven, selected a site at the corner of Hicks Street and Grace Court which was acquired for $15,000. [2] They hired well known architect Richard Upjohn, who had also designed Trinity Church in Manhattan, to design a building in Gothic Revival style. The cornerstone was laid on June 29, 1847, and on December 10, 1848 the doors were opened for its first service. The total cost for the structure was $46,737.52. [2] In 1865, the congregation built a Sunday and parish school building, also designed by Richard Upjohn, next door to the church on Grace Court. [3] In 1866, the ceiling was painted in a celestial motif. [4]

During the early 1900s, decorative paint was gradually added to the walls and ceiling, and the original diamond-pane windows were replaced with stained glass from studios such as Tiffany, Cottier & Co., J&R Lamb Studios (Lamb Studios), Clayton and Bell, Franz Mayer of Munich, and Charles Booth of London and New York. [2] In 1931, the Sunday and parish school building was replaced by the present-day Parish House, where Grace Church School is located. [5]

The church continues to be a part of the Brooklyn Heights neighborhood today. [6]

Restoration

Between 2013 and 2014, Grace Church underwent an extensive $5 million restoration and renovation by EverGreene Architectural Arts. As part of the restoration, they installed a new copper roof, new insulation, new lighting, new wiring and cleaned the 3,200 organ pipes. Additionally, several prominent decorative elements in the nave and sanctuary were restored. [2] The work revealed the church's open trusswork ceiling which features a swath of celestial eight-pointed stars in gold, yellow and red on a bright royal blue background. [4]

For the restoration efforts, Grace received a 2015 Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award by the New York Landmarks Conservancy, an award for Excellence in Historic Preservation from the Brooklyn Heights Association and a 2014 Preservation Award from the Victorian Society New York. [2]

Notable people

Rectors

Parishioners

Architectural drawings

Architectural drawings of Grace Church but architect Richard Upjohn, 1847. [11]

References

  1. ↑ "Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights collection". findingaids.library.nyu.edu. NYU Special Collections Finding Aids . Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "How Grace Church In The Heights Came To Be". Brownstoner . March 28, 2006. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  3. ↑ Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights. (1937). Grace Church, Brooklyn Heights, New York, 1847–1937: Ninetieth Anniversary, Book of Commemoration and Year Book. Brooklyn, N.Y.: The Church. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  4. 1 2 Dunlap, David W. (December 25, 2013). "A Brooklyn Church Uncovers a Long-Hidden Celestial Scene". The New York Times . Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  5. ↑ "About Grace Church School". www.gracechurchschool.org. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  6. ↑ Tate, Francesca Norsen (May 14, 2025). "History-rich Brooklyn Heights churches featured in New York Landmarks Conservancy's Sacred Sites Weekend". Brooklyn Eagle . Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  7. ↑ "Married" (PDF). The New York Times . November 3, 1862. p. 5. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Dean Hoffman Dead". Brooklyn Citizen . June 17, 1902. p. 1. Retrieved November 30, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ "HENRY E. PIERREPONT DEAD.; Retired Merchant Was One of the Brooklyn Family of Pierreponts". The New York Times . November 5, 1911. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  10. 1 2 3 4 Wilson, John S. (July 25, 1971). "Saga of a Brooklyn Heights Rock Group". The New York Times . Retrieved September 8, 2025.
  11. ↑ Upjohn, Richard (1847). "[Grace Church (Brooklyn, New York). Front elevation]". www.loc.gov. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
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