6. First Chinese Presbyterian Church (1817-19)
First Chinese Presbyterian Church (formerly Market Street Reformed Church) on 61 Henry St., built 1817-19.
The building that currently stands at 61 Henry Street first opened its doors in 1819 as the Market Street (Dutch) Reformed Church. Predating the trend of Gothic Revival Style churches by nearly two decades, the building’s pointed Gothic windows and doors are among the earliest in Manhattan. The Dutch Reformed Church disbanded in 1864. In 1866, the church entered its second phase of existence as a Presbyterian house of worship when the Church of the Sea and Land moved in.
Established in the previous year, the Church of the Sea and Land was a Presbyterian congregation for sailors, former sailors, and their friends and families. The Church of the Sea and Land dissolved in 1972, but they passed the torch to the First Chinese Presbyterian Church, with whom they had shared the space since 1951.