1844 is the official founding date for the Parish of Ss. Peter and Paul, although the history of the parish goes back to 1837. That is the date of the first recorded mass in Williamsburgh, which took place in a private home on Fourth Street (Bedford Avenue) between South 3rd and South 4th Street
Founded 1822, as the third Roman Catholic parish of the Diocese of the New York. St. James was the first Roman Catholic parish on Long Island. St. James became the cathedral parish of the Diocese of Brooklyn on its founding in 1853 (which at the time comprised all of Long Island). The existing church of St. James was constructed in 1903.
This page lists parishes, congregations and the like by date of parish/congregation founding. Associated churches and other buildings (extant or demolished) are listed with each congregation. A chronological list of churches, synagogues and other houses of worship can be found here.
The Parish of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary was founded in 1864, an offshoot of Most Holy Trinity Church on Montrose Avenue. The first church building for the predominantly German Annunciation congregation was probably a wooden structure located on the northwest corner of Havemeyer and North Fifth Streets, where the school is now located. Rev. John Hauptmann was the first priest of the parish. The existing church, designed by Francis J. Himpler, was constructed in 1870.
Founded in 1806, the First Methodist Episcopal congregation was the first to be founded in what would become the Village of Williamsburgh, and the second in the Town of Bushwick. The first church for the congregation was constructed in 1808 on North 2nd Street (Metropolitan Avenue) and Fifth (Driggs) Street. The last church for this congregation (constructed in 1839) still stands on South Second Street. From about 1839 until it burned down in 1845, a Black congregation worshipped in the old church.
The parish of St. Patrick was founded in the early 1840s, prior to the establishment of the Diocese of Brooklyn. The origins of the church are a bit obscure, but it appears to have been founded as a parish for Irish Catholics in East Brooklyn (Wallabout), with the first services held in private structures near Wallabout Street and Flushing Avenue. Early secondary-source references to the church call it the Wallabout Church. In 1843, Rev. Hugh Maguire was appointed as the first priest for the parish.
The following is a list of churches, synagogues and other houses of worship by date of construction/founding. Ancillary buildings, such as rectories, parish houses, schools and convents are not included on this list but should be linked on the building entry, or can be searched for here.
The Pacific Street Methodist Episcopal Church was constructed in 1851 at the northwest corner of Pacific and Clinton Streets. The congregation was established in 1844 and for the first few years worshiped in the former South Brooklyn Presbyterian Church, located on Pacific between Court and Clinton Streets.