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.
“Buildings Projected,” Real Estate Record & Builders’ Guide 19, no. 484 (n.d.): 514.
Constructed in the early 1830s as a single-family residence. The original building was probably two-and-a-half stories and enlarged to three stories by the 1840s. As early as 1870, the building had been converted to multi-family use, with a Chinese laundry located in the basement. Other uses in the 19th century included an oyster bar. By the 1930s, the building was used for metal storage/salvage, as evidenced by the large metal shutters at the parlor floor level.
A rare (and perhaps early?) non-ecclesiastical building designed by Thomas Houghton.
Source: “Buildings Projected,” Real Estate Record & Builders’ Guide, (August 18, 1882): 783.
Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide (v. 15, no. 368, April 3, 1875), 233.
Listed in Real Estate Record as 224 North 5th. According to Bromley atlas, the property to the west (now 224) was 222 North 5th Street. Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide (v. 15, no. 367, March 27, 1875), 220.
Convent constructed for the Sisters of St. Dominic, who prior to taking up residence here had been located at Graham and Montrose avenues. The building was converted to residential use starting in the mid-1980s.
Parish was separated from St. Stanislaus Kostka's parish in 1909 as a separate Polish parish for Williamsburg. Prior to the erection of the church, mass was held at McCaddin Memorial Hall. The cornerstone of the church was laid on May 9, 19101.