St. Augustine’s Roman Catholic Church & Rectory, Brooklyn

Address: 116-130 6th Avenue, Brooklyn
Architect: Parfitt Brothers
Constructed: 1888
LPC Action: Public Hearings 2/8/1966; 3/8/1966; 7/8/1980
LPC Backlog Hearing: Prioritized for designation (as part of the Park Slope Extension)

Park Slope Historic District Extension II Designated on April 12, 2016

 LPC- Fact Sheet |Research File

HDC Testimony 

The Gothic Revival, High Victorian style church is known as "the Cathedral of Park Slope. When it opened,The Brooklyn Daily Eagle declared St. Augustine Church “one of the finest examples of Gothic architecture in the country,” and later, “one of Brooklyn’s most picturesque church.”  The New York Times headline the day after the dedication declared St. Augustine: “Brooklyn’s Finest Church.”  The American Institute of Architects Guide to New York City (Harcourt Brace Publishing, 1988) says of the church:

It was called “Brooklyn’s finest church” by the New York Times on opening day. The church’s architectural significance placed it as one of the first slew of properties heard by the then-new Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1966. The Diocese of Brooklyn opposed any landmark designation and the church remains calendared ever since. St. Augustine’s is today a landmark of Brooklyn and Park Slope in all except official designation.

LPC Statement of Significance:

St. Augustine's Roman Catholic Church and Rectory are an acclaimed pair of ecclesiastical buildings, located in the heard of Park Slope, just outside of the Historic District, the church, with its tall corner tower and conical steeple, is a prominent structure, visible from a great distance. The church and rectory were designed in 1888 by Parfitt Bros., one of the major architecture firms active in Brooklyn during the late 19th century.

St. Augustine's Church is a Gothic Revival style structure designed with an eclectic combination of European elements. The most unusual feature of the church is its double apse, a form derived from German architecture. Also notable are the corner towers, elongated pointed-arched windows, steep sloping roofs with slate tiles, and the trumpeting angel perched on top of the Sixth Avenue apse. The free-standing rectory, with its rock faced stone front, projecting entrance porch, round corner tower, and crenelated parapet, complements the larger church buildings.

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