For God and Country

At the corner of East 7th Street and Avenue A is the St. Brigid school building, with this granite monument set into the wall:

Granite monument.

A plus sign, For God and Country, 1954… But just like a tattoo removal that doesn't quite work, another year is still visible underneath: 1856. I say still visible because, while everything else is engraved into the stone, 1856 is filled in with some type of granite-spackle!

What happened? Did the stone mason misread his copy sheet and carved in the wrong numbers? Did church doctrine change, making some event from 1856 heretical? Was there another school building here, built in 1856, that was replaced by this one, built in 1954?

We may never know. It's just another East Village mystery!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #avenueb #signs #stbrigidschool