St. Peter's Roman Catholic Church, Manhattan

St Peter's Church is the oldest Roman Catholic parish in New York City and part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. The church was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1965. The original church's cornerstone was laid in 1785 and the first solemn Mass was celebrated in 1786. This was nearly three years before George Washington—standing less than a mile away on an open-air balcony of Federal Hall (the nation's first capitol)—took the oath of office as the first president of the United States. The cornerstone of the present Greek Revival church, designed by architects Thomas Thomas and John R. Hagarty, was laid in 1836. The exisiting church was completed in 1840. read more