{"nrhp_refnum":"80002682","name":"Church of the Transfiguration","other_names":["The English Lutheran Zion Church"],"category":"building","location":{"address":"25 Mott St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"New York","county":"Manhattan","state":"NY","lat":40.71473819800008,"lon":-73.99870909399993,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1980-04-16","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A church at 25 Mott Street in Chinatown, Manhattan, built in 1801 as the English Lutheran Zion Church and rebuilt after an 1815 fire. It is a rectangular stone building with a copper-topped octagonal tower added in the 1860s.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is one of the oldest surviving churches in New York City, surpassed in age by only four others. Its vernacular Georgian-Gothic design reflects the many periods and styles of its long history. It has served a changing community, now primarily Chinese, for nearly 200 years.","narrative":"Standing on a narrow, winding street in Chinatown, this stone church at 25 Mott Street dates to 1801, when it was built for the English Lutheran Zion Church. A severe fire in 1815 destroyed the interior and left only the stone walls, and the building was rebuilt with pointed-arch windows. In the 1860s a copper-topped octagonal tower and cupola were added, burial vaults in the basement were removed for a chapel, and an Italian marble altar and frescoes were installed. The congregation joined the Episcopal group in 1810, and in 1853 the building was sold to a Roman Catholic congregation that became the Church of the Transfiguration. The parish shifted from Irish to Italian to, today, mostly Chinese members. Its shape, massing and Gothic tracery combine Georgian and Gothic features. It is among the oldest surviving churches in New York City and remains an active house of worship.","period_of_significance":"1800-1899","architect_builder":"Various; interior design attributed to Henry Engelbert","architectural_style":"Vernacular Georgian-Gothic","criteria":[],"status_note":"Occupied and in use as a religious building; condition listed as good and altered.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:50:42.432248-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/80002682.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002682/d232c50603-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/80002682/d232c50603-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 3.0","author":"Americasroof","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church-of-transfiguration-25-mott.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Americasroof</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Church-of-transfiguration-25-mott.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319401","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Transfiguration,_Roman_Catholic_(Manhattan)","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5118060"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/manhattan/church-of-the-transfiguration-80002682/"}