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Judson Memorial Church
This church was built upside down from how most churches work - instead of reaching UP to heaven, it was designed to reach OUT to connect the super-rich families living north of Washington Square with the struggling immigrant families to the south! Back in 1893, when your great-great-great grandparents might have been kids, famous architect Stanford White built this Italian Renaissance beauty using yellow Roman bricks that look like golden LEGO blocks stacked in perfect bands. Here's the coolest part - that soaring tower holds the largest collection of stained glass windows by master John La Farge anywhere in America, and in 1894 they shocked the whole neighborhood by putting a giant electric cross on top that lit up the night like a lighthouse for lost souls! Oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller helped pay the massive 450,000 dollar bill - that's like 15 million dollars today, enough to buy about 300 school buses! As you walk around this golden brick wonder, count how many arched windows you can spot - there are treasures hiding in every direction!
Did You Know?
- Judson Memorial Church was intentionally built on the south side of Washington Square Park to bridge the gap between New York City’s wealthy residents to the north and immigrant, working-class communities to the south—a bold social experiment in urban ministry that sought to unite diverse populations through shared space and service.
- The church boasts the largest collection of stained-glass windows in the United States designed by John La Farge, a master of American stained glass, with 14 magnificent windows illuminating the sanctuary—a hidden artistic treasure for families and art lovers to discover.
- In the 1960s and 1970s, Judson became a groundbreaking hub for avant-garde arts and LGBTQ+ activism, hosting the Judson Dance Theater and Judson Poets Theater (early Off-Off-Broadway pioneers), as well as some of New York’s first gay political gatherings and AIDS support services—making it a landmark of both cultural and social progress.