16 Fort Street
Episcopalians in Groton Bank had to take the ferry to Saint James Episcopal Church in New London until 1874. Established in 1725, St. James was a colonial extension of the Anglican Church of England. A number of members remained loyal to England during the American Revolution, although their church building burned during Benedict Arnold’s 1781 raid on New London. In 1785, Samuel Seabury, a native of the part of Groton that is now Ledyard, came to St. James as the first bishop of the American Episcopal Church after being consecrated in Scotland.
The success of a regular mission to Groton congregants resulted in construction of this chapel in 1875. It was designed and built by the Missionary Society of the Diocese of Connecticut, and the first service was held here on Christmas Day 1875. In 1881 the chapel was consecrated in memory of Bishop Seabury.
In the 1950s the congregation grew and was granted status as the Bishop Seabury Church. In 1967 it began construction of a new, larger church building elsewhere in Groton and left its home of almost 100 years here on Fort Street.
There has been a Muslim presence in the New London area for more than 50 years. In the 1970s a Sunni Islam group came together, and it became the Islamic Center of New London in the 1980s. In November 2001 the Islamic Center purchased this building for its mosque. The Center preserves Islamic traditions and culture, promotes understanding and better relations between Muslim groups and with people of other faiths, and serves the needs of New London County Muslims. Five times a day members pray, facing toward Mecca, and on Fridays all males are expected to attend the noontime Jumu’ah prayer and sermon here. As the center of the local Muslim community it also offers a Sunday School of Islamic studies.
One building, two faiths; different beliefs but equal devotion under the same roof.
