St. Paul's Chapel & St. Peter's cross
Andrew Gautier designed this Georgian style church, which was completed in 1776, and it is the oldest public building in continuous use in New York City. George Washington attended services here from his inauguration in 1789 until 1790, when the second Trinity Church was completed (the first burned down in the Great New York Fire of 1776).
Stephen Rochefontaine (born near Rheims, France) volunteered to join George Washington's Continental Army in 1778, and was consequently appointed captain in the Corps of Engineers. He attained the rank of major for his distinguished services in the seige of Yorktown. In 1795, Washington promoted Rochefontaine to the rank of lietenant colonel and commandant of the new Corps of Artillerists and Engineers. That same year he founded a military school at West Point, which burned down the following year. Thomas Jefferson founded the military academy in that same site in 1802.
You can see the steel girder cross from Ground Zero at St. Peter's Catholic Church (the oldest Roman Catholic parish in New York City). Exit St. Paul's on Church Street, the side that faces the WTC. Go a block north, St. Peter's sits on the southeast corner of Church And Barclay Streets (one block from the WTC site). You'll see the cross on the display on the side of the church facing Church Street.
John R. Haggerty and Thomas Thomas designed this Greek Revival church, consecrated in 1840. Since the church itself is undergoing extensive renovations, the original chapel is not currently open to the public.
...and since one book is never enough, consider this gripping romantic read from Robert Segarra, Still Waiting for the Sun