Manhattan - St. Paul’s Chapel

A Brief History: Located at 209 Broadway Street in Manhattan, St. Paul’s Chapel was founded in 1766; it the size of a small city block and holds approx. 1000 people. It’s the oldest building still in use and it remains today as Manhattans only pre-revolutionary church (part parish to Trinity Church).

It sits adjacent to the World Trade Center. George Washington used St. Paul’s Chapel as a regular house of worship for two years including a service from the Chaplain to Congress, Rev. Dr. Provost, on his inauguration day. They still have George Washington’s pew preserved. It held the funeral for president James Monroe in 1831 and is the final resting place for Gen Richard Montgomery, who was the first officer to die in the Revolutionary War battle of Quebec.

St. Paul’s Chapel survived the great fire of 1776 and the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in September of 2001. It served as a shelter for 14,000 volunteers and victims of the 9/11 attacks free of charge providing food, clothing, shelter and counseling.

Haunted History: It is said that British actor George Frederick haunts the Chapel and the grounds. George Frederick had sold his head to science to relieve him of his debt to pay off his medical bills. George now lays buried here in St. Paul’s Chapel headless. Years later it is said that his skull was supposedly used in a production of Hamlet.