From The Peopling of NYC

Judson Memorial Baptist Church
55 Washington Square South (4th Street), southwest corner of Thompson Street
Designed: 1892; Architect: McKim, Mead & White Tower- Designed: 1895; McKim, Mead & White

The church was designed by Stanford White and based on the Romanesque San Miniato al Monte in Florence. It was the conception of Edward Judson, a pastor of the Berean Baptist Church and a friend of Stanford White, John D. Rockefeller and the Astors. They wanted to build a church to commemorate the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Judson’s father. Judson wanted a massive and beautiful church to be situated “where the foreign nationalities, as they jostle each other when they ask: ‘What are these stones?’ may be informed that they commemorate the first American who carried the message of the Gospel to foreign parts.” Judson also intended his church to be on the borderline between the rich and the poor, to be expressive of the truth, to provide free seats, and to be owned in such a way as that it could never be mortgaged. The church is both sensuous and dignified. Its facade displays a combination of yellow Roman brick with terra cotta ornament.

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St. Lukes' in the Fields Church
485 Hudson Street, between Barrow and Christopher Streets
Designed: 1822; Architect: James N. Wells
Expansion: 1986; Architect: Hardy, Holzman, Pfeiffer

Wells placed this church at the center of a large plot of land facing Hudson Street. He surrounded it with row houses, which allowed for access to the chapel. Instead of dividing the enclosed land into separate backyards, he unified the block by leaving it an enclosed common. Most of these row houses have long since been torn down to make room for apartment buildings. The first warden of St. Luke’s was Clement Clarke Moore, a classical and Oriental scholar who authored "T'was the Night before Christmas." St. Luke’s has been cited by the Landmarks Preservation Commission as the most significant ensemble in the West Village.

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Second Shearith Israel Cemetery
Christopher Street east of Sixth Avenue
Founded: 1805

This cemetery is much smaller than it originally was. Burials began here, at the juncture of Christopher Street and the Union Road, in 1805, in what was a much larger, square plot extending into what is now the street. The Commissioners' Plan had established the city's grid in 1811, but not until 1830 was West 11th Street cut through, at that time reducing the cemetery to its present tiny triangle. The disturbed plots were moved further uptown to the Third Cemetery on West 21st Street. In 1852 city law forbade burial within Manhattan, and subsequent interments have been made in Queens. The cemetery, or what is left of it, survives, still aligned to roads long since plowed away.

Source: Cemeteries of the Spanish-Portugese Synagogue

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The Church of the Ascension
Northwest corner of Fifth Avenue and 10th Street
Designed: 1841; Architect: Richard Upjohn

This church is prized for its architecture and art. Behind the marble altar carved by Augustus Saint-Gaudens rises a huge mural by John La Farge, often considered his finest work. La Farge also created several of the church’s stained-glass windows using opal glass panels devised by Louis C. Tiffany. The Church of the Ascension moved to” preach the gospel to the poor ... to heal the brokenhearted; and to set at liberty them that are bruised.” The Church removed the pew-owning barrier, making everyone welcome to worship, with the hopes of making it a free church.

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The First Presbyterian Church
48 Fifth Avenue, between 11th and 12th Streets
Designed: 1846; Architect: Joseph C. Wells
South transept: 1893; McKim, Mead & White

This church placed its emphasis on missions for immigrants. George Griswold and James Boorman, wealthy men who lived on Washington Square North were among its founders. CHASERRRRRR

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