Guided tour of Saint Thomas Church

Saint Thomas Church was founded in 1823. The first building, completed in 1826, was of simple Gothic revival design and was located on the northwest corner of Broadway and Houston Street; it burned in 1851 and was replaced by a similar building. The third church was finished in 1870 at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street. It was designed in brownstone by Richard Upjohn (1802-1878) in the Victorian Gothic manner, but it also burned in 1905. The present building was begun in 1911 and completed in 1913 and was designed completely of masonry, without a steel frame, in authentic Gothic style by Ralph Adams Cram (1863-1942) and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (1869-1924). The exterior is of Kentucky limestone from Bowling Green and the interior is of Kentucky sandstone from South Carrolton.

Saint Thomas at 200: Art in the Service of Faith is a professionally-curated exhibition that traces the history of the parish through the building, decoration, and consecration of four church buildings, two at Broadway and Houston Street and two in the present location at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street, each of which was hailed in its time as an important contribution to Gothic Revival architecture in the United States.

Host or Publisher New York Preservation Archive Project, the New York Landmarks Conservancy, and the Historic Districts Council