[1] Like many large buildings in the 19th century, St. Agnes Chapel was the product of an architectural competition.

The corporation invited six architects: Charles C. Haight, Henry M. Congdon, Frederick C. Withers, Richard M. Hunt, William Halsey Wood, and McKim Mead & White, each of whom received $1,000 compensation.

In 1934, Downtown Trinity Parish decided to close the small congregation, already split from nearby Episcopal churches.

Eager to expand, the adjacent parish school, also named Trinity, bought it as a gymnasium space and demolished it for a more permanent structure in 1943.

[4] The St. Agnes Branch of the New York Public Library, now half a mile away, was founded by the parish.