I was having lunch with an old friend and former colleague. He lives in Brooklyn so we agreed to meet in the lower part of Manhattan. Despite living in New York for over thirty years, I hadn’t been to this area for many years, maybe even decades. So I thought I’d get there early and walk about a bit.

The first place I went to was Trinity Church. I really makes you remember that this was once the original New York City settlement. This is the third church at this location. The first was built in 1698 and was destroyed in the great NY first of 1776. The second was consecrated in 1790 and was torn down in 1838-39 after being damaged by strong storms. This one was built in 1846. Located right at the end of Wall Street it contrasts strongly with all of the downtown skyscrapers, in this picture the new World Trade Center buildings constructed to replace the twin towers destroyed during the 9/11 attacks.

The fourteen-foot bronze doors at the front entrance, completed in 1894, are topped by a 4-foot tympanum with Christ rising above his twelve apostles


John Watts, a lawyer and politician who represented New York in the US House of Representatives. An impressive figure.


Gravestones


Robert Fulton. Wikipedia describes Robert Fulton as follows:

Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 – February 24, 1815) was an American engineer and inventor who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat. In 1800, he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte to design the Nautilus, which was the first practical submarine in history.[1] He is also credited with inventing some of the world’s earliest naval torpedoes for use by the British Navy

Path to a monument. I have so far been unable to discover exactly what this monument commemorates. While I was there a group of people was clustered around the base. Someone, presumably a guide, was talking. Most of “listeners” were young and were almost all texting on their phones. I guess they weren’t much interested in what the guide was saying.


Soldier’s Monument. Commemorates heroes of the Revolutionary War.


The old and the (somewhat) newer


Interior


Detail from the cenotaph of Rt. Rev. Benjamin T. Onderank, the fourth (Episcopalian) Bishop of New York