Rectory of the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton
Also James Watson House and Our Lady of the Rosary
NY
Place of WorshipArchitect
John McComb Jr.
Walter Knight Sturges
Joseph Sanford Shanley
Designations
National Register of Historic Places in Jul 24, 1972
New York City Landmark in Nov 23, 1965
Description Show more
The James Watson House is now the rectory of the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first saint canonized in the United States. The Watson House at 7 State Street actually consists of two parts.
1793 The eastern portion, only two windows wide, was built in 1793. James Watson, the wealthy merchant and importer who lived at 7 State Street, was one of the ambitious, early-rising group called the “Peep o’ Day Boys” who awoke before dawn to scan the harbor for incoming ships. The wooden columns on the porch of his house are said to be repurposed ship’s masts.
1806 The distinctive western portion with its curved porch is attributed to John McComb Jr. and was added in 1806. The Watson House was once part of an elegant row of townhouses, but by the late nineteenth century when Father John Joseph Riordan bought the property for the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary the street’s glory days were in the past. At the turn of the twentieth century an elevated train rattled just outside the house’s front windows. By the 1960s the property had so deteriorated that the Watson House was gutted inside and 8 State Street, where Elizabeth Seton had lived, was demolished.
1965 Sturges and Shanley(who was a descendant of Mother Seton), designed a new church for the 8 State Street site in a style that drew from the Federal and Georgian periods to complement the Watson House next door. It is said that Sturges and Shanley planned the sanctuary to be reminiscent of a ballroom because of Elizabeth Seton’s love of dancing.
The James Watson House is now the rectory of the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first saint canonized in the United States. The Watson House at 7 State Street actually consists of two parts.
1793 The eastern portion, only two windows wide, was built in 1793. James Watson, the wealthy merchant and importer who lived at 7 State Street, was one of the ambitious, early-rising group called the “Peep o’ Day Boys” who awoke before dawn to scan the harbor for incoming ships. The wooden columns on the porch of his house are said to be repurposed ship’s masts.
1806 The distinctive western portion with its curved porch is attributed to John McComb Jr. and was added in 1806. The Watson House was once part of an elegant row of townhouses, but by the late nineteenth century when Father John Joseph Riordan bought the property for the Mission of Our Lady of the Rosary the street’s glory days were in the past. At the turn of the twentieth century an elevated train rattled just outside the house’s front windows. By the 1960s the property had so deteriorated that the Watson House was gutted inside and 8 State Street, where Elizabeth Seton had lived, was demolished.
1965 Sturges and Shanley(who was a descendant of Mother Seton), designed a new church for the 8 State Street site in a style that drew from the Federal and Georgian periods to complement the Watson House next door. It is said that Sturges and Shanley planned the sanctuary to be reminiscent of a ballroom because of Elizabeth Seton’s love of dancing.
Map View
Nearby
| St Elizabeth Seton statue at the Shrine | 27 feet |
| Elizabeth Ann Seton becomes a saint | 27 feet |
| John Wolfe Ambrose statue | 152 feet |
| Untitled (Figure Balancing on Dog) | 173 feet |
| See it split, see it change | 241 feet |
| Superstorm Sandy | 259 feet |
| Abraham De Peyster's mansion | 270 feet |
| The 1st Jewish settlers in New York | 362 feet |
| Peter Minuit purchases Manhattan Island | 379 feet |
Timeline
