The Mother Church of Catholic New York

Today in 1786, the first Mass was celebrated at St. Peter’s Church on Barclay Street in Manahttan. This was the first Catholic Church in New York City and the first in New York State. In 1800 it opened the first Catholic school in New York State. St. Elizabeth Seton was received into the Church at St. Peter’s, and Venerable Pierre Toussaint was a parishioner. In 1965, St. Peter’s was designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The church is located just north of the World Trade Center towers, and was a staging area for emergency responders. The body of the Rev. Mychal Judge, Chaplain to the New York City Fire Department and officially the first casualty of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, was brought to St. Peter’s by firefighters and laid before the altar.
(adapted from nycago.org)