Once Upon A Time In Carroll Gardens: The South Congregational Church

From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle archive

(Picture credit: Brooklyn Public Library Archive)

South Congregational Church at 360 Court Street

The church today

Do you remember, dear Reader, that just a few days ago, I posted a wonderful old photo of the Congregational Church on Courts Street at the corner of President Street?
The church has not changed much over the last decades, except that long ago, it was turned into condos and no longer serves as a place of worship.
However, on the old photo, the Congregational Church has a steeple, which is no longer there.
I had no idea what happened to it, until reader Alexandra kindly sent me the article above from the Brooklyn Eagle archive, which sheds some very interesting light on the church's history.
According to the January 4, 1879 article, high winds made the steeple sway dangerously and it was feared that it was going to collapse that afternoon.
It would seem that already during construction, there was a problem with the steeple.
The article states:

The church and tower were constructed about eighteen years ago, and during its construction, a shocking accident occurred, which resulted in the nstant killing of two men and serious injury to several others. The casualty was caused by the falling of a scaffold in the interior of the edifice.
The steeple has always been regarded as more or less insecure and it has often been a matter of surprise to those residents in the neighborhood and who, during more than ordinarily severe gales observed it moving from one side to the other that it has not long ago toppled over altogether.

On that day in January, so long ago, the tower clearly rocked from side to side. Ropes around the church kept pedestrians at a safe distance. The article continues:

There is much alarm felt on the block as it is impossible to say on which side the steeple will fall.
Should it fall inward, the mass of slate, brick and mortar would doubtlessly crash through the roof of the church and cause considerable damage, and should it fall outward, some of the houses on the opposite side of the street could not escape without serious injury.

The worst did not seem to have happened, since the brownstones next to and opposite the church remain intact to this day. It is likely that, as the article mentions, the steeple may have been taken down shortly after January 4, 1879.

My thanks goes out to Alexandrea, who loves neighborhood history as much as I do and has, over the last two years, sent me a wealth of historical photos and articles about Carroll Gardens.



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Once Upon A Time In Carroll Gardens: The South Congregational Church

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