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French Chelsea History Tour
From the 1870's-90's, approximately 20,000 French immigrants lived in South Village and SoHo area. By the end of the 19th century, most of that colony had relocated to the Chelsea area.
St. Vincent de Paul
St. Vincent de Paul Church at 123 West 23rd Street was founded in 1851 to serve the needs of a large French population that had settled in Manhattan. The present structure was designed in 1857 by Henry Engelbert. It was later reclad by Anthony DePace in 1939.
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Jeanne D’Arc Home
The Jeanne D’Arc Home was built 1896 at 254 West 24th Street by the Fathers of Mercy of the Church of St. Vincent de Paul to provide safe housing for newly-immigrated young French women. It sought to care for both the spiritual and temporal needs of women, and still operates in the same way today.
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French Evangelical Church
The French Evangelical Church was founded in 1846 as a Presbyterian congregation by the Belgium-born Antoine Frederick Twyeffort. In 1886 the congregation purchased the former Catholic Apostolic Church building at 126-128 West 16th Street. Architect Alfred D. F. Hamlin redid the interiors and updated the façade of the original 1835 church in the German version of Romanesque Revival.
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804 Sixth Avenue
Since 1857 Henri and Louis Mouquin had operated a stylish French restaurant downtown known as Chez Mouquin. In 1898 they leased the old Knickerbocker Cottage at 804 6th Avenue and rechristened it Mouquin’s Cafe de Bordeaux.
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Eglise de Saint Esprit
The Eglise de Saint Esprit started as a French Huguenot (Protestant) congregation in the days of New Amsterdam. Eventually it joined with the Episcopal Church in NYC.
From 1862-1900 it was located at 30 West 21 Street in a Neo-Gothic building designed by architect Henry Erben.
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French Hospital
In 1809, a group of French people living in New York City founded La Société Française de Bienfaisance (The French Benevolent Society), a charitable organization devoted to assisting members of the local French community in need. The Society was formally incorporated in 1819 and over the next several decades formalized its constitution and by-laws to allow for an expansion of activities.
The final French hospital building was constructed in 1929, at 324-240 West 30th Street, with 189 beds and a maternity unit with 62 beds and 62 bassinets.
The hospital continued to operate as an independent institution until its merger in 1969 with Polyclinic, when it became the French and Polyclinic Medical School and Health Center.
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