Sacred Spaces in DC

Curated by DC Preservation League

This tour provides a comprehensive list of historically-designated religious properties in the District. These sacred spaces – including churches, meeting houses, synagogues, temples, seminaries, and cathedrals – are significant for their history, architecture, and the famous individuals who have been associated with these sites. From presidential congregants to political and social activists, DC’s religious spaces have supported residents and visitors alike, famous or not. These spaces have evolved with the city, and one of the landmarks, the Adas Israel Synagogue, has even been physically moved – three times!

Additionally, this list includes two sacred spaces that are designated National Historic Landmarks: St. John’s Church and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church.

Many of these spaces have served their official religious purposes, as well as provided safe community spaces for non-religious groups to gather and come together. As religious meeting spaces continue to evolve and change to meet the needs of their congregants, their buildings serve as a testament to the community-oriented culture that they’ve curated over the decades.

This tour's sites are arranged in alphabetical order; if you choose to explore these sites, plan your route accordingly.

Adas Israel Synagogue

During its early years, the Adas Israel Congregation, composed of 35 families, met and worshiped in the homes of its members or in rented quarters. On August 16, 1870, the congregation's trustees, recorded in the deed as Manasses Oppenheimer, L.…

All Souls Unitarian Church

In 1821, the congregation of All Souls Unitarian Church first organized as the First Unitarian Church. The original edifice stood at Sixth and D Streets NW; however, in 1877, the congregation erected a new church at Fourteenth and L Streets, changing…

Asbury United Methodist Church

Asbury United Methodist Church reflects important themes in the city’s social history including abolition, emancipation, reconstruction, and the civil rights movement. It is the city’s oldest African American church to remain on its original site.…

Christ Church

Christ Church was founded in 1817 when a group of prominent Georgetown citizens met to organize a new congregation for an additional Protestant Episcopal Church. Up until that time, St. John's Church was the only Episcopal Church in Georgetown, and…

Christ Church, Washington Parish (Christ Church Navy Yard)

The first section of Christ Church was built in 1806-1807. Designed by architect Robert Alexander (but attributed to Benjamin Latrobe), the structure features a battlement facade, possibly copied from a pattern book. The simple interior has a flat…

Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes

The Church of the Ascension and Saint Agnes is an excellent and well-preserved example of the High Victorian Gothic design, and is the work of noted Baltimore architects Dixon & Carson.Architectural features include the polychrome facades of…

Church of the Epiphany

Built in 1844, the Church of the Epiphany is an unpretentious Gothic Revival style structure designed by John W. Harkness. Following the founding of the parish in 1842, the congregation consecrated their new building in 1852, and significant…

Ebenezer United Methodist Church

Known as “Little Ebenezer” in the mid-19th century, the Ebenezer United Methodist Church became one of the first African American congregations on Capitol Hill and the first public school in DC open to African American children. The congregation came…

Eldbrooke Methodist Church

When the Eldbrooke Methodist congregation was founded in the early 1830s, Tenleytown was only beginning to develop as a crossroads village on the road from Frederick and Rockville to the port at Georgetown. The present 1926 church is the…

Emory United Methodist Church

The Brightwood area was originally part of a rural, sparsely populated county when DC was established. Built in 1832, Emory United Methodist Church demonstrates the growth of the Brightwood community spanning over 180 years. Emory was the only…

First African New Church (Church of the New Jerusalem)

By 1846, a Swedenborgian, or New Church, congregation was fully established in Washington, and by 1858, the congregation had built a church just north of the Capitol. After that structure burned in 1889, the church built both a national church on…

First Baptist Church of Deanwood

One of DC's oldest African American suburbs, Deanwood was established when white landowner Levi Sheriff divided farmland among his three daughters, Margaret Lowrie, Emmeline Sheriff and Mary Cornelia Dean. These three subdivisions—Whittingham,…

First Church of Christ, Scientist

In 1879, Mary Baker Eddy founded the Christian Science church, and it quickly spread to DC in 1895. After hosting their religious services in members’ homes and other denominations’ churches, the congregation decided to construct its own building.…

Fletcher Chapel (Church of God and Saints of Christ)

Dating back further than most other houses of worship in the city, Fletcher Chapel is notable as a representation of early DC's simple wood frame architecture, as well as the site of the founding meeting of the Anti-Saloon League, an important…

Founding Church of Scientology, Washington, DC

This row house at 1812 19th Street NW is one of three properties around the nation closely connected to L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology (the other two properties are in New Jersey and Arizona). Here, at this property within the Dupont…

Franciscan Monastery and Memorial Church of the Holy Land

The Franciscan Monastery Complex is located on a hill named Mount Saint Sepulcher in Brookland. The Byzantine-style buff colored brick church, designed by Italian architect Aristides Leonori and built in 1899, is the centerpiece of the complex, a…

Friends Meeting House (Friends Meeting of Washington)

Built in 1930 and designed by Walter F. Price, the Washington Friends Meeting House is a Colonial Revival building decorated with Georgian elements, such as quoins and keystones, and Federal elements, including a pedimented round-arched doorway. The…

Friendship Baptist Church

Friendship Baptist Church symbolizes the resistance to one of the most important—yet also most socially destructive—urban renewal projects in the nation, the Southwest Washington urban renewal program. The congregation and its pastor, Rev. Benjamin…

Grace Church (Grace Protestant Episcopal Church)

The "child" of two early existing Georgetown Episcopal Parishes, the Grace Parish was founded in 1855 as a mission church for boatmen and workers form the adjacent C&O Canal. With the financial support of District Governor Henry D. Cooke, the…

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church was established in 1876, when American-born members of Trinity German Lutheran Church founded their own English-speaking congregation and shifted affiliation to the Ohio Synod. It became an important mission church,…

Grace Reformed Church, Sunday School, and Parish House

Erected as a national memorial to the Reformed Church in the United States, Grace Reformed Church was constructed between 1902 and 1903, following the plans of noted architects Paul Pelz and A. A. Ritcher. The church is designed in an elegant Gothic…

Hillcrest/National Presbyterian Church

Hillcrest/National Presbyterian Church reflects the merging of two early 20th century Washington institutions into the current historic properties of The Washington City Orphan Asylum (Hillcrest Children’s Center) and the National Presbyterian…

Immaculata Seminary Historic District

In the early 20th century, the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods, a Catholic order, purchased the property to establish the Immaculata Seminary school for girls, and constructed an imposing building (Capital Hall) facing Tenley Circle in…

Immaculate Conception Church, School, Rectory, and Residence

Founded in 1864, Immaculate Conception was the first mission church of Saint Patrick’s, organized to serve the Roman Catholic population in the then-sparsely settled area north of Mount Vernon Square. Immaculate Conception’s establishment reflects…

Kelsey Temple Church of God in Christ

The years immediately after World War I were a period of intense development of neighboring residential and commercial blocks, capped by the opening of the nearby Tivoli Theatre in 1924. The influx of residents was accompanied by a wave of…

Lincoln Congregational Temple United Church of Christ

The current building for the Lincoln Congregational Temple United Church of Christ was built in 1928 and designed by architect Howard Wright Cutler; however, the site of the church has been used by the mission since 1868. An important marker of the…

Luther Place Memorial Church and Luther Statue

Formally known as Memorial Evangelical Lutheran Church, Luther Place Memorial Church was founded in 1873 as a memorial to peace and reconciliation following the Civil War; two of the original pews were even dedicated to Generals Grant and Lee. The…

Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church

The Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church contributes significantly to the cultural heritage and visual beauty of DC. The organization of the Metropolitan A.M.E. Church grew out of dissatisfaction among Blacks with the white…

Mount Olivet Lutheran Church

Designed by R.G. Russel in the High Victorian Gothic style, this large red brick building stands as the only nonresidential building in the Logan Circle Historic District, and is the only structure listed as a designated landmark in its own…

Mount Zion United Methodist Church

The establishment of the congregation of the Mount Zion Church dates to 1814, which makes it the oldest Black church in Georgetown and one of the oldest Black churches in the District of Columbia. The establishment of separate Black Methodist…

National Baptist Memorial Church

The congregation of this local church was organized in 1906, yet the vision for the religious building expanded through a desire for a national Baptist Church. Original designs included a prominent statue of Roger Williams, Puritan minister,…

National City Christian Church

The congregation of the National City Christian Church organized in 1843. A physician and pioneering Stone-Campbell Movement missionary, James Turner Barclay (1807-1874) helped to organize the congregation. Designed in 1930 by architect John Russell…

Nineteenth Street Baptist Church (1871-1976)

The Nineteenth Street Baptist Church is considered to be the first and oldest Black Baptist congregation in DC. The First Baptist Church, where Nineteenth Street Baptist Church finds its roots, initially described the congregation as interracial.…

Old Holy Trinity Church

Holy Trinity Church, established in 1787, is the oldest Roman Catholic church in not only Georgetown, but also all of Washington, DC. For years after construction finished in 1794, the church was called "Georgetown Chapel," due to uncertainty around…

Park View Christian Church

When it was constructed, the Park View Christian Church made church services more accessible to residents of the then-rural parts of D.C., enhancing the sense of community in the newly-developing Park View neighborhood. While a smaller chapel had…

Sacred Heart Catholic Church

Many of the immigrants who transformed Mount Pleasant in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s relocated from primarily Catholic countries. Catholic churches provided places of refuge for newly arrived families and individuals seeking religious guidance and…

Saint Aloysius Catholic Church

Built between 1857 and 1859, Saint Aloysius Catholic Church, with its handsome interior decoration, was designed Father Benedict Sestini. Sestini, a Jesuit priest who was a well-known mathematician, astronomer, and physicist, designed the building in…

Saint Dominic's Church

Built in 1865 to 1875, the cornerstone of Saint Dominic's Church was placed on November 19, 1865, just months after the conclusion of the Civil War. There had been previous iterations of the church, which included St. Mary’s “Barry Chapel,” that was…

Saint John’s Church

Due to its close proximity to the White House, Saint John’s Church is known as the “Church of the Presidents”; accordingly, every President since James Madison has attended at least one service there. A prayer book in one of the pews contains the…

Saint John’s Church, Georgetown

Construction started on Saint John's Church in 1796, building on land that had originally been purchased and set aside by the Church of England in 1769. The church's exterior, designed in the Federal style by Architect of the Capitol William…

Saint Luke’s Episcopal Church

Built between 1876 and 1879, Saint Luke’s is a major work of Calvin T.S. Brent (1854-1899), the city’s first Black architect. It is designed in the early English Gothic style and features a long nave with cast-iron columns, exposed roof framing, oak…

Saint Mark’s Church

The red-brick, High Victorian Saint Mark's Church, designed in 1888 by T. Buckler Chequier, combines Romanesque elements with Gothic verticality and has a particularly distinguished interior with exposed brick walls and timbered roofing. Between 1940…

Saint Mary's Catholic Church

Organized in 1845 in the basement of St. Matthew's Church, St. Mary's parish was formed to serve the influx of German Catholic immigrants settling in Washington at the time. Initially located at 15th and H Streets NW, the German Catholic community…

Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church (Saint Mary's Chapel)

Formed in 1866-1867, St. Mary's Episcopal Church was founded by African American congregants wanting to create their own church from the Church of the Epiphany. After establishing their congregation, the church searched for a site to build their own…

Saint Matthew’s Cathedral and Rectory

St. Matthew's Cathedral is one of the most impressive houses of worship in the United States. The simplicity of the exterior contrasts with the rich decorations of the interior. Its imposing copper ribbed dome is one of the visual focal points of the…

Saint Patrick’s Church

This parish was established by Bishop John Carroll in 1794. The initial meeting place of the congregation was a house at the corner of 10th & E streets NW. The congregation worshiped at three other locations until this location, designed by…

Saint Paul AUMP Church

Saint Paul African Union Methodist Protestant Church is the only DC church evolved from what is considered the oldest incorporated, independent African American denomination in the country. Dating from 1813, the AUMP denomination is also noted for…

Saint Paul's College

The Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostles was founded in 1858 with the purpose of converting non-Catholic Americans to Catholicism. To this end, the Paulists established their own educational curriculum to ordain priests at Saint Paul the…

Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church (Rock Creek Church)

Although the walls of the present church date from 1775, the church has undergone a number of changes throughout its history. The first church on the site was a frame structure erected in 1719. This church was replaced with a brick structure in…

Saint Phillip's Baptist Church

Saint Phillip’s Baptist Church has stood on the corner of North Capitol and K Street, NE since its dedication in 1892.  With its deep red brick façade, brownstone trim, and pitched gable roof, the Church is reminiscent of Queen Anne styled…

Second Baptist Church

Second Baptist Church sprang from the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church and is noted in the Baptist movement as the mother church for many other area congregations. The church was first located on this site in 1856, and served, according to oral…

St. Joseph's Seminary

St. Joseph's Society of the Sacred Heart was one of many Roman Catholic institutions and organizations that established their presence in the Brookland area in the late-19th century and into the 20th century, when the area was still largely rural and…

Third Baptist Church

Since its construction in 1893, this Gothic Revival church has been a dominating presence in its neighborhood of small two-story row houses. The first trained African American architect in DC, Calvin T.S. Brent designed various churches, but Third…

Washington Cathedral Close Historic District

The Washington National Cathedral has been a landmark of religious significance for over a century, and its surrounding structures date back to the early twentieth century. The Cathedral Close (an enclosed area surrounding the designated spot for the…

Washington National Cathedral

A Protestant Episcopal church, the Washington National Cathedral has a distinct ecumenical character, as it functions as the national church called for in the 1792 Plan of the Federal City. Beginning construction in 1907, the stone, English…