Free previewStop 6 of Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan Walking Tour
The Church That Owned Manhattan's Farmland
You're on Broadway, and the dark stone church in front of you is Trinity. Stand with your back to it for a second and look straight ahead. That narrow canyon of towers running away from you is Wall Street, and Trinity sits right at its head. Now turn around and look up the spire to the gilded cross at the top. This church was finished in 1846, and until 1869 it was the tallest building in the United States.
The building is the third Trinity on this ground. But the story that matters here is about land.
In 1697 a small Church of England congregation got a charter from King William III, and a land grant that came with a rent: 60 bushels of wheat a year. Their first church was a modest rectangular building facing the Hudson River.
That's the opening. The rest plays at stop 6 of Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan Walking Tour (2 min in all). Unlock the tour to hear it all, or try stop 1 free first.
