Church of the Ascension (New York)

Church of the Ascension (Episcopal)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. National Historic Landmark
(2007)
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Location	36–38 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates	40°44′1.3″N 73°59′46.2″W / 40.733694°N 73.996167°W / 40.733694; -73.996167Coordinates: 40°44′1.3″N 73°59′46.2″W / 40.733694°N 73.996167°W / 40.733694; -73.996167
Built	church: 1840–41 parish house: 1888–89
Architect	church: Richard Upjohn parish house: McKim, Mead & White
Architectural style	church: Gothic Revival parish house: Northern Renaissance
NRHP Reference #	87002593
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	December 23, 1987
Designated NHL	December 23, 1987

The Church of the Ascension is an Episcopal church in the Diocese of New York, located at 36–38 Fifth Avenue and West 10th Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan New York City. It was built in 1840–41, the first church to be built on Fifth Avenue and was designed by Richard Upjohn in the Gothic Revival style. The interior was remodeled by Stanford White in 1885–88.

The church's parish house, at 12 West 11th Street between Fifth Avenue and the Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), was originally built in 1844 as a residence, and was altered to its current state in 1888–89 by McKim, Mead and White in a Northern Renaissance-inspired style.

The church became a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Both the church and parish house are part of the Greenwich Village Historic District, designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1969.

The Church of the Ascension was first organized in 1827, and their first church – located on the north side of Canal Street east of Broadway – was one of the early Greek Revival buildings in the city, designed by the city's first professional architectural firm, Town & Thompson, the partnership of Ithiel Town and Martin Euclid Thompson. Built in 1828–29, the church burned down in 1839, prompting the move to the parish's current location and church. Until the new church was completed, the parish met in a number of places for two years.