Binghamton's oldest church, where the city's founder is said to still be settling a 200-year-old grudge
10 Henry Street, Binghamton, NY 13901
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
An active Episcopal church open to worshippers and visitors at no charge. Sunday Holy Eucharist at 10:00 a.m.; contact the parish office before visiting outside of services.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Paved downtown sidewalks; accessible entrance
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1855 · Binghamton's Oldest Organized Congregation (1810) · Richard Upjohn Gothic Revival Architecture · Founded by City Land Agent Joshua Whitney · 1904 Jarvis Family Chimes
Christ Church traces its founding to 1810, when the congregation that would become Binghamton's first church began meeting at the Broome County courthouse. Joshua Whitney, the land agent who developed the settlement on behalf of landholder William Bingham, secured a lot at the corner of Henry and Water Streets for the congregation, which completed its first building by 1818.
By the 1850s the parish had outgrown that original structure. It commissioned Richard Upjohn, the architect best known for Trinity Church in New York City and a leading figure in American Gothic Revival design, to build a new stone church. Working with contractor J. Stewart Wells and stone quarried from Guilford, builders completed the sanctuary between 1853 and 1855. The 110-foot steeple, capped with a purple slate roof, was not finished for roughly another fifty years, when Wells personally funded its completion.
In 1904 the steeple received a tolling bell and eleven chimes, cast in Troy, New York, and given by the Jarvis family. Broome County's historian has described the church as one of the defining landmarks of the city's downtown.
Christ Church remains an active Episcopal congregation. Beyond Sunday worship, the parish runs a food pantry, a clothing closet, and a winter-warmth program serving downtown Binghamton, continuing a presence in the same blocks it has occupied for more than two centuries.
Sources
The ghost story attached to Christ Church is unusual in that its supposed spirit is the same man who helped found the parish. Joshua Whitney, Binghamton's early land agent, was by local accounts a very large man, said to have weighed more than 400 pounds. According to the legend retold in the congregation, his size made the church's pews difficult to use, and he asked the parish to build him a custom pew. When the request was declined, Whitney reportedly left offended and did not return.
Parishioners tell the story with affection rather than dread, joking that Whitney is still getting even. The reported phenomena are minor and domestic: lights that go out on their own, and small objects that vanish. One often-repeated example holds that a pitcher used for communion wine disappeared for several weeks before turning up in the top of the bell tower.
The legend has been featured in local Binghamton television coverage of the city's haunted history. It belongs firmly to community folklore, tied to a documented historical figure but never to any verified supernatural event, and the parish treats it as a piece of its own long memory rather than a claim about the afterlife.
Notable Entities
Media Appearances
Christ Church is an active Episcopal parish in downtown Binghamton. The 1850s Richard Upjohn stone sanctuary is open to visitors around Sunday services and by arrangement with the parish office. There is no admission charge, and the building's history and ghost lore are part of its public identity.
Every HauntBound history is researched from documented sources. We clearly separate verified historical fact from paranormal folklore.
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