St. Luke’s Episcopal Church

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church is a late Gothic Revival structure designed by Brown and von Beren. The main block of the church was completed in 1905, and its most prominent feature is a four-sided tower rising above the street-facing façade, accented with Indiana limestone. An addition to the east was constructed in 1964, featuring flat surfaces and a rectangular geometry characteristic of the International Style. St. Luke’s Episcopal Church has occupied the building since its construction. Founded in 1844 when African American members of Trinity Church separated to form their own congregation amidst an atmosphere of racial tension, St. Luke’s has played an important role in the social history of New Haven, and the church continues to transform the community with its outreach and development efforts.

None. The building has been owned and occupied by St. Luke’s Episcopal Church since its construction.

Prior to the construction of the main block of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, a wood-frame structure stood on the site at 113 Whalley Avenue, which was home to Rachel L. Craft, Ai R. Burwell, and Ms. Eliza A. Deming (9). Another wooden structure stood on the land where the 1964 addition was built. This building, at 26-28 Sperry Street, had previously served as the rectory for St. Luke’s (16). While the location largely consisted of agricultural land as late as the 18th century, Whalley Avenue gained importance with the construction of a turnpike and bridge that allowed access to Westville (2). St. Luke’s currently stands in the Dwight-Whalley neighborhood. Development in the Dwight district was spurred by speculators in the 1830s, who constructed housing and shaped the area’s roads (5). The neighborhood benefitted from an industrial boom in the 1850s, attracting artisans and laborers, many of whom participated in the carriage industry (5, 6). By the early 20th century, the Dwight neighborhood had a growing diversity of residents, including a large African American population and immigrants from Italy and Poland. Following World War II, the neighborhood was increasingly occupied by lower income residents, and its population decreased as its buildings began to fall into disrepair (5). Revitalization efforts have since reshaped the area, which continues to be home to a large number of 19th century buildings. 

Completed in 1905, the late Gothic Revival building was constructed to house the growing congregation of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. St. Luke’s was formed in 1844 by African American members of Trinity Church who separated from Trinity during an era of pervasive discrimination (15). In the early part of the 19th century, African American residents of New Haven were barred from voting, attended separate schools from white residents, and were often relegated to their own sections or required to stand by the wall when attending church (21). A number of individuals attempted to form separate congregations for African Americans, including the abolitionist Simeon Jocelyn. Jocelyn’s group gained its formal status as a Congregational church in 1829, and the present-day United Church of Christ on Dixwell Avenue traces its origins to that congregation (21). 

During the 1820s, African American members of Trinity Church began to meet independently of the church, but these meetings were largely informal until 1844, when they officially founded St. Luke’s (21). Although parishioners of St. Luke’s initially convened in a facility owned by Trinity Church, they moved to a building on Park Street in 1852, and by 1894, the church began fundraising for the construction of the current building on Whalley Avenue (21). Among the founding members of St. Luke’s was Alexander DuBois, the grandfather of the famed civil rights activist W.E.B. DuBois (15, 21). In fact, W.E.B. DuBois himself was born in New Haven and baptized at St. Luke’s. St. Luke’s was also the family church of Edward Alexander Bouchet, the first African American to graduate from Yale (16). Throughout the 20th century, St. Luke’s took on an increasingly active role in the city of New Haven, including participating in the development of affordable housing and hosting a school for teenage mothers. Today, St. Luke’s continues to be active in the community, undertaking development projects while hosting a range of service and outreach programs. 

St. Luke’s is located on Whalley Avenue, a major commercial thoroughfare home to a diverse variety of retail stores, restaurants, and other consumer businesses. St. Luke’s is bordered to the west by a building housing Whalley Seafood, Papa John’s Pizza, and a branch of a local nonprofit, while the Rubber Match furniture store lies to the southeast of the church. Whalley Avenue is lined by trees on either side, with a string of power lines crisscrossing the street at various points, including directly in front of the church. St. Luke’s is currently taking an active role in shaping its environs, having formed St. Luke’s Development Corporation in an effort to support the local community (18, 19). This entity has purchased properties at 115, 125, and 129 Whalley Avenue, and it has also developed a senior housing complex at 120 Goffe Street (18). Future plans include further residential and mixed-use developments in the area. This locale is also the focus of the Whalley Avenue Revitalization Program, an effort by the City of New Haven to support development in the district (22).

St. Luke’s Episcopal Church consists of a late Gothic Revival style main block built of red brick with Indiana limestone accents, as well as an International Style addition of red brick and cinderblock construction (22). The main block, designed by Brown and von Beren in 1905, features a four-sided tower crowning its southern, street-facing elevation, with minimal signs of deterioration or weathering (3, 4, 22). The building’s relatively simple appearance places it in the late Gothic Revival rather than the Victorian Gothic style (22), but it nonetheless displays some degree of ornament. Crenellations define the peak of the tower, while gargoyles thrust outward below. The tower is penetrated by an arch, with an iron pattern filling its opening (22). At the street level, a pair of red doors are housed beneath a limestone arch. The gable roof of the main block is covered with slate tiles (1, 10). While the transept is not highly pronounced, it intersects the nave near its northern end, such that the design of the church resembles a Latin cross layout. A two-story addition lies to the east of the main block, intersecting the original portion such that the entire building forms an “L” that mirrors the shape of the parking lot. Built in 1964, the addition was designed in the International Style with planar walls, a flat roof, and rectangular windows on its north and south facades. A building permit was granted in 1988 for the construction of a wheelchair accessible ramp, which was built adjacent to the parking lot along the eastern elevation of the main block (12). The building’s entrance faces the parking lot, protruding from the addition, and its double doors are covered by a cantilever.

Once inside, a vestibule leads into the nave of the church, which has walls of faintly colored brick, a ceiling constructed of stained pine, the original wooden pews, and stained-glass windows designed by Robert Pinart (17, 22). A gas explosion in 1947 caused significant damage within the nave, destroying seven stained-glass windows, sending a slab of concrete into the street, and dislodging 12 of the pews, although no signs of the damage remain (15). Underneath the main block lies a crypt, which has been furnished to be used as overflow and storage space. Within the more recent addition, a large multipurpose room spans the majority of the top floor, flanked on its north and south by identical sets of five windows, while doors at the western end of the room lead to a kitchen. The lower floor of the addition contains a main hallway leading to small individual rooms and office spaces. The floors of the addition are offset from those of the original structure, such that the top floor of the addition is above the level of the nave, while the bottom floor of the addition is below. As a result, stairs must be traversed from the level of the nave to reach either the top or bottom level of the addition. 

1.    "107 Whalley Av." New Haven, CT Online Assessment Database. http://gis.vgsi.com/newhavenct/Parcel.aspx?pid=18410.

2.    Brown, Elizabeth Mills. New Haven, a Guide to Architecture and Urban Design. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1976.

3.    Caplan, Colin M. A Guide to Historic New Haven Connecticut. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2007.

4.    "Connecticut - New Haven County." National Register of Historic Places. http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/ct/new+haven/state.html.

5.    "Dwight Street Historic District." The New Haven Preservation Trust. http://nhpt.org/index.php/site/district/dwight_street_historic_district/.

6.    Inside New Haven's Neighborhoods. 1982.

7.    New England Business Directory and Gazetteer, 1904. Sampson & Murdock Company, 1904.

8.    New England Business Directory and Gazetteer, 1908. Sampson & Murdock Company, 1908.

9.    New Haven Directory, 1899. The Price & Lee Co., 1899.

10. New Haven Historic Resources Inventory, Phase IV. Vol. IX. New Haven, CT: The New Haven Preservation Trust.

11. Owens, Lorrie. Connecticut Historic Places Dictionary. Hamburg, MI: State History Publications, LLC, 2008.

12. Permit No. 98482. Building Permit, City of New Haven Building Department, 200 Orange St., Fifth Floor, New Haven.

13. Sanborn-Ferris Map Co., Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut, Volume 2, 1901.

14. Sanborn Map Company of New York, Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut, Volume 2, 1923.

15. Sanborn Map Company of New York, Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut, Volume 2, 1973.

16. Snyder, Jill M. St. Luke's Episcopal Church, 1844-1994. 1996.

17. "St. Luke's Church." St. Luke's Episcopal Church. https://www.stlukeschurchnewhaven.com/st-lukes-past-and-present.html.

18. St. Luke's. Dana Collection, New Haven Museum.

19. St. Luke's Development Corporation. https://www.sldcct.org.

20. "St. Luke's Development Corporation." Yale Law School. https://law.yale.edu/studying-law-yale/clinical-and-experiential-learning/our-clinics/ludwig-center-community-economic-development/st-lukes-development-corporation.

21. United States. Department of the Interior, Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service. National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form, Dwight Street Historic District.

22. United States. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. Registration Form, St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

23. "Whalley Avenue Revitalization Program." The City of New Haven. https://www.newhavenct.gov/gov/depts/city_plan/plans_n_projects/whalley_avenue_revitalization.htm.