Saint Thomas Church and Parish House, Manhattan: architect, style and history

Saint Thomas Church, at Fifth Avenue and West 53rd Street, is an Episcopal parish whose congregation was incorporated in 1824. The current building, the parish's fourth, was designed by Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in the French High Gothic Revival style and completed in 1914.

the building

Choir of Men and Boys. The church is home to the Saint Thomas Choir of Men and Boys, a choral ensemble of men and boys.

Live camera system. In 2020, following a gift from the family trust of John and Mary Alyce Merrow, the church installed a camera system with a dozen 360-degree-rotating cameras, supporting an online congregation that has drawn tens of thousands of participants during Advent and Christmas services.

the style

Saint Thomas is built in the French High Gothic Revival style, reflecting Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue's shared interest in medieval French church design at the scale of a Fifth Avenue parish.

the architect

Ralph Adams Cram, working here with Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, was a leading American Gothic Revival architect known for ecclesiastical commissions across the country.

significance

Saint Thomas Church is a New York City Individual Landmark and is listed on both the National Register of Historic Places and the New York State Register of Historic Places, designated in 1966.

nearby

University Club 280 ft · Renaissance Revival
13 West 54th Street House 300 ft · Renaissance Revival · 1899
William H. and Ada S. Moore House 380 ft · Renaissance Revival · 1900
Cartier Building 490 ft · Neoclassical
St. Regis Hotel 510 ft · 1904
647 Fifth Avenue Building 520 ft · Neoclassical · 1905

All 413 buildings in Manhattan