3. St. Paul’s Chapel, 209 Broadway (1766)

Nicknamed “The Little Chapel That Stood” after the September 11 attacks, St. Paul’s is an Episcopal chapel located in Lower Manhattan and the oldest surviving church in the borough. An active part of the Parish of Trinity Church, St. Paul’s was built in 1766 as a “chapel-of-ease” for those who did not want travel to the mother church, and its Georgian influence can be seen through its interior and classical portico.

St. Paul’s nickname may have come from the miraculous lack of damage it received when the World Trade Center Buildings collapsed just a block away, but that is not the only time St. Paul’s has survived seemingly fatal events: during the Great Fire of 1776, which destroyed the first Trinity Church, the humble chapel was saved by a bucket brigade. St. Paul’s subsequently became the home church for many while the second Trinity Church was being constructed, including George Washington, who famously took his oath of office as the first President of the United States and then made his way to St. Paul’s to pray.