Grace Court Alley, An Accidental Discovery: Join My 365-Day Peaceful Photo Challenge
DAY 225. Living with irrevocable differences and curating peace through contemplative photography.
April 14, 2025
With my navigation app turned off and my wandering feet leading the way, I made an accidental discovery near the Brooklyn Promenade, which overlooks the six piers of Brooklyn Bridge Park.
It would have been easy to miss it — this historical enclave hidden among the townhouses and multistory buildings in the neighborhood and the beautiful park, East River waterway, and skyline that called from the northwest.
I noticed the signs of a church and, fascinated by its architecture, walked toward it. Pausing to see where exactly I was — the corner of Hicks Street and Grace Court — I looked around.
Suddenly, I was transported back in time. The church — Grace Church — would wait.
“I don’t mind waiting,” she whispered.
Compelled to draw closer to the miracle I saw in the time machine, I crossed the street and entered a dead-end alley lined with the two and three-story brick buildings you see in today’s photos.
A parked 21st-century car, gutters on the buildings, and the structures’ meticulous, almost new appearance contrasted with the character and history before me. There were no electrical or cable wires in sight.
The brick and stone buildings lining the narrow passageway wore European-style cornices, arched windows and doorways, wrought iron fixtures, and lanterns — all ornaments of a bygone era.
I also noted the placement of barrels and potted plants that quietly helped paint a picture of the past in the present.
According to Citylore.org, Grace Court Alley began as an unnamed stable alley for the Remsen family, who owned a nearby mansion. Later, the alley was renamed for the nearby Grace Church, designed in 1847 in the Gothic Revival style by Richard Upjohn shortly after his work on Trinity Church in Manhattan.
Later, the alley served as a mews (a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses before motor vehicles replaced horses in the early twentieth century) for Grace Church and the mansions on Remsen and Joralemon Streets.
As time and advancements transitioned horse-drawn carriages to automobiles, the stables became garages and chauffeur quarters. Eventually, the buildings were converted into homes that sell for as much as $8.5 million today.
While the price tags are staggering, being there momentarily was captivatingly priceless.
What historical, priceless, peaceful moments have you photographed lately?
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