St. Paul's

St. Paul's - Lot 13, White Head

Orignal Grant:

Ann Alstone and Jane Sutherland - January 27, 1786

History and Style:

St. Paul’s was consecrated on September 16, 1841. It was built to serve both the Peninsula and the families that once lived on Long Island. It sits on land donated by James White and Ralph Haslett. Like many structures on the Peninsula, the church was built near the river, not the road, because the river was the main highway.

In 1965 the steeple was hit by lightning, exposing the original steeple which had been covered over during previous renovations. On display in the front entry is a wooden fish which once sat on top of the steeple. There is also a lantern that used to hang in a nearby carriage house.

The church’s windows were originally built with rounded Georgian arches that, like Trinity Church’s windows, were converted to pointed Gothic arches. The original style can still be seen on the interior window frames. Instead of completely removing the old windows and installing new ones, the carpenters made a compromise. The single Georgian windows were replaced with double Gothic windows that were placed within the single-window frame. From the exterior the windows look like they were always Gothic, but from the interior it is clear that the original design was Georgian.