King Manor to Grace Church: A Free Tour, Then a Family's Burial Story
Two generations of the King family argued against slavery, and the museum's own account follows the argument from Rufus in the Senate to John's fight to arrest men who kidnapped free Black New Yorkers and sold them into slavery. Both men are buried a block east.
📍 Two Stops on Jamaica Avenue
🕰 Start Inside the Rooms the Kings Lived In
Tours leave at noon, one, two and three, Thursday to Saturday, and admission is free. The museum strongly encourages a reservation but does not require one, so book through kingmanor.org or call 718-206-0545. The house is closed Sunday to Wednesday and on major holidays. Inside, it is run as a museum of Rufus King's political legacy and antislavery history, and the museum credits both Rufus and his son John with anti-slavery work.
⛪ Walk East Four Minutes to the Family Story
Walk east on Jamaica Avenue for about four minutes. Grace Episcopal was founded in 1702, and through Rufus King's generosity a new church went up and was consecrated in 1822. Fire took it three decades later, and the American Gothic building standing today opened in September 1862. Rufus, Mary and John are buried in the churchyard beside it, but the parish publishes no visiting hours for that ground, so treat the churchyard as a walk-by sight from the sidewalk and call 718-291-4901 only to ask about entry.
🗺 One Street, One Afternoon, Two Stops
Give the route one afternoon. Take the noon tour, stay the hour the museum suggests, then walk the four minutes east while there is still daylight. One stop is a warm interior with a guide, the other a sandstone facade and a churchyard you see from the street, which is why the pair holds up in cold weather. House first, church second is the order that lets the family's politics land before the burial ground.
