Church of the Transfiguration
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Church of the Transfiguration, formerly Zion Protestant Episcopal Church
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Location | 25 Mott St. Manhattan, New York City |
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Coordinates | 40°42′52.3″N 73°59′56.5″W / 40.714528°N 73.999028°WCoordinates: 40°42′52.3″N 73°59′56.5″W / 40.714528°N 73.999028°W |
Built | 1801 (rebuilt 1815) |
Architect |
steeple and alterations (1868): Henry Engelbert |
Architectural style | Georgian Gothic |
Website | http://www.transfigurationnyc.org/parish/index.php |
NRHP Reference # | 80002682 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | April 16, 1980 |
Designated NYCL | February 1, 1966 |
The Church of the Transfiguration is a Roman Catholic parish located at 25 Mott Street on the northwest corner of Mosco Street (formerly Park Street) in the Chinatown neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The parish is under the authority of the Archdiocese of New York and is staffed by the Maryknoll order.
The church was built in 1801 in the Georgian style of architecture for the Zion English Lutheran Church., a Lutheran congregation that subsequently converted en masse to the Protestant Episcopal Church. The church then became known as Zion Protestant Episcopal Church. It was rebuilt after a major fire in 1815 which gutted the church and 35 dwellings in the surrounding Five Points neighborhood. The church was rebuilt thanks to the effort of congregation member Peter Lorillard.
The Episcopal congregation sold the building in 1853 to the Roman Catholic Church of the Immigrants parish, which had been founded in 1827 by the Rev. Felix Varela y Morales to minister to the poor Irish in the Five Points who were predominantly Roman Catholic. The parish later changed its name to the Church of the Transfiguration.
The church is one of four on the Lower East Side built from Manhattan schist. The AIA Guide to New York City describes it as "[A] Georgian church with Gothic (small-paned double-hung) windows ... with Gothic tracery ... Dressed Manhattan schist makes neat building blocks, with brownstone detail." A copper-covered octagonal tower designed by Henry Engelbert was added to the church building in 1868, when the Gothic windows are assumed to have been added as well.