Plymouth Church: The Grand Depot of the Underground Railroad

Why is it significant?

Pause in the peaceful courtyard of Plymouth Church and contemplate the understated Italianate red-brick facade of this historic Congregational sanctuary.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Pause in the peaceful courtyard of Plymouth Church and contemplate the understated Italianate red-brick facade of this historic Congregational sanctuary. Built in eighteen forty-nine without an ostentatious steeple in accordance with Puritan simplicity, the church resembles a classic New England meetinghouse transplanted to the heart of urban Brooklyn. Shaded by ancient elm trees, a bronze statue of its legendary founding minister, Henry Ward Beecher, sculpted by Gutzon Borglum, gazes resolutely across the lawn where thousands once gathered to hear his passionate sermons.

During the turbulent decade leading up to the Civil War, Plymouth Church became internationally famous as the Grand Central Depot of the Underground Railroad. Beecher utilized his pulpit to stage dramatic mock slave auctions, rousing his wealthy congregation to buy the freedom of enslaved men, women, and children on the spot. In subterranean tunnels and brick chambers beneath the church floorboards, escaping freedom seekers were secretly hidden, fed, and clothed before being smuggled north to upstate New York and Canada. During Beecher's fiery sermons against the Fugitive Slave Act, the cavernous auditorium packed in over two thousand listeners every Sunday, drawing journalists, foreign dignitaries, and reform crusaders from across North America and Europe.

Step inside the sanctuary to view the remarkable nineteenth-century stained glass windows crafted by Louis Comfort Tiffany: unlike traditional ecclesiastical designs, they depict pivotal scenes in the development of American religious freedom and democracy.

Look closely at the arcade garden: buried beneath the church lawn is a genuine chunk of Plymouth Rock, transported here from Massachusetts in eighteen forty-eight to consecrate the congregation's Pilgrim heritage. The quiet garden walk serves as a solemn tribute to the enduring legacy of courage that defined this sanctuary of liberty.

Head south along Henry Street to explore the grand Gilded Age mansions along historic Pierrepont Street.