Serving City Island's
Nautical Community
for over 160 years.
The Bolton family was known for its artistic creativity, especially in the design
and manufacture of stained glass. "The Adoration of the Magi" window at Christ
Church (the first known figurative stained-glass window made in America) was
designed and made by Cornelius’s brother William, assisted by their brother John.
Grace's altar window, picturing "The Trial of Christ," was created by John Bolton,
who was also an Episcopal priest, having been ordained at Christ Church, Pelham.
John fashioned his window after a version made by William for the church of St.
Ann and the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn. There has been much comparison of the
two windows and opinions expressed as to which is of higher quality, but each
has merit (although Grace parishioners tend to prefer John'’s version).
If you look upward into the rafters at Grace Church, you will see evidence of
craftsmanship of a different kind---that of ship building, for the church was
actually constructed by carpenters from the nearby David Carll shipyard, the
first yard of its kind on City Island. The architecture of the church is termed
“carpenter Gothic,” a popular late Victorian style, but if you can imagine the church being upside down, you can see that the configuration of the beams resembles that of a ship’s hull. David Carll was a vestryman of the church for 24 consecutive years, from 1866 to 1889.
In 1906 New York City began to widen City Island Avenue, and the church building incurred damages as a result of the project, which was completed in 1908. That year the church was wired for electricity for the first time, and the following year a church bell was installed in the belfry. In 1912 money was finally received from the city to
pay for damages to the property, and some of these funds were used to raise the
church building by five feet. Other improvements were made to the property over
time, including the construction of a parish hall and the acquisition of a rectory.
In 2007 Grace Episcopal Church was named to the National Register of Historic
Places for its architectural and historical significance.
In 2008, during the replacement of the church roof, Grace's original wooden
cross was removed and donated to the City Island Historical Society and Nautical
Museum. In its place are two new handmade crosses, constructed of wood and copper, which will be enduring symbols of God's grace for future generations.
The Trial of Christ
created by John Bolton
The Rectory
