St. Matthew Evangelical Lutheran Church (Williamsburg)

St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church was a German congregation, established in February, 1864 in a tenement house on North 3rd Street between Kent and Wythe. That same year, the congregation purchased the former Williamsburgh city jail on North 5th Street between Driggs and Roebling and converted the building into a church, which was opened on August 28, 1864.1

The jail (sometimes described as the North Side Court House or "the cells")was constructed in 18512, but itself may have been a conversion from the original District 2 school. Secondary sources3 say that the school (now PS 17) was established in 1843 in a brick building on the north side of North 5th Street. In 1850 a new District 2 school building was erected on the south side of North 5th Street at the corner of Driggs, and the old school was possibly converted into the new city prison at that time.

It is likely that the front section of the church was constructed in 1864. Around 1887, St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church renovated its building, adding a spire at that time.4 The church spire was removed sometime after 1946, possibly as a result of a fire that broke out in the church in 19575. In addition to the church itself, there was an Italianate parsonage on the lot to the west6 (built after 1868; still standing) and a rear addition constructed in 1878 (Doring & Hoepfer, builders7) that originally served as the schoolhouse and may have been the parsonage in later years.

St. Matthew's Evangelical Lutheran Church remained on North 5th Street until at least 1963. This was a remarkably long run for a German congregation in Williamsburg - many German churches moved to southern Brooklyn in the first half of the 20th century, following their parishioners. In 1967, the Spanish Calvary Baptist Church of Williamsburg bought the building from a David Waldman. In 2024 the Spanish Calvary Baptist Church sold the property to New Beginnings Church of Williamsburg, which in turn sold to a developer in January 2025. The church and school were demolished in August.

• 1

  “Twenty-Five Years Ago: The St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation,” Brooklyn Daily Times (Brooklyn, N.Y.), August 24, 1889, 3, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-times-st-matthews/180120760/.

• 2

  “Williamsburgh Items: New City Prison,” Brooklyn Evening Star (Brooklyn, N.Y.), July 26, 1851, 3, https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-evening-star-north-fifth-street/180125377/.

• 3

  Eugene L. Armbruster, The Eastern District of Brooklyn (Eugene Armbruster, 1912), 75-76.

• 4

  “Twenty-Five Years Ago: The St. Matthew’s German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation,” Brooklyn Daily Times(Brooklyn, N.Y.), August 24, 1889, 3, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-brooklyn-daily-times-st-matthews/180120760/.

• 5

  “Unititled Photo,” Greenpoint Weekly Star (Brooklyn, N.Y.), April 12, 1857, 1, https://www.newspapers.com/article/greenpoint-weekly-star-st-matthew-fire/180166459/.

• 6

  This is based on the photo caption from an 1939 Brooklyn Daily Eagle photo showing the house at the rear of the lot immediately to the west of the church. This lot does not appear to have been part of the church property, and it is possible that the Eagle photographer mistook this building for the parsonage, intending to take a photo of the building at the rear of the lot to the east of the church.

• 7

  North 5th Street, https://noveltytheater.net/buildings/north-5th-st-1