Dorothy Day Walking Pilgrimage

Step into Dorothy Day's Footsteps

To mark the close of Dorothy’s 125th year, we hosted our first Manhattan walking pilgrimage of significant sites in Dorothy’s life and the early years of the Catholic Worker movement on Saturday, October 21st. This pilgrimage takes us to the places where Dorothy prayed, protested, and offered the works of mercy for nearly 50 years. Beginning in Union Square, the pilgrimage route takes between two and three hours to walk and concludes at Maryhouse, Dorothy Day’s final home. You can view the map here.

  • If you would like to make this pilgrimage yourself, we recommend the following route:

    1. Start at Union Square (#'s 5 and 25 on map).


    2. Walk west along 16th Street to St Francis Xavier Church (between 5th and 6th Avenues).


    3. Walk south down 6th Avenue to the site of the Women's House of Detention (#20), now a public garden, on the corner of the west side of 6th and Greenwich Ave (a continuation of 8th Street, which ends on the east side of 6th).


    4. Walk down 6th Avenue to St Joseph [RC] Church of Greenwich Village, not on the list, but one of the churches Dorothy visited during her pre-conversion days, and perhaps as a night cap to her time at the Hell Hole.


    5. Continue down 6th Avenue to the corner of West 4th and 6th, the site of the infamous Hell Hole (aka The Golden Swan, #2). 


    6. Cross 6th Avenue and walk east on 4th Street to Washington Square Park (#19), the site of air raid drill protests during the 50's.


    7. Not on the map: On the east side of Washington Square Park, at 23-29 Washington Place, site of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. While Dorothy was still living in Chicago in 1911, when the factory burned, it is a significant site for labor activists and journalists like Dorothy.


    8. Return to 4th Street and walk east (to the left) to Second Avenue. Cross Second, then make a right and walk down Second to 1st Street, make a left and visit St Joseph's House (#25).


    [After St Joe's, you may walk to the corner of 1st and 2nd to see the huge building on the corner of Houston and Chrystie. That is part of the site where 223 Chrystie Street (#16) used to stand, which was the first house owned by the Catholic Worker


    9. After visiting St Joe's, the group will walk past the former site of Nativity Church (#29), Dorothy's home parish.


    10. Walk up Second Avenue to 3rd Street, cross 3rd, make a right and proceed to Maryhouse (#28).


If you would like to bring a school, parish, or community group to make this pilgrimage and would like guidance or accompaniment from a Guild member,

please reach out to us by using the form below. We would love to spend an afternoon with you!

Walking Tour

Walking Tour Locations

Note: * indicates the original building has been torn down.

Manhattan - Brooklyn - Queens

All Locations
LIST MAP
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SITES NOT ON MAP

*11. Easton Farm (1936-1947)

Easton, PA

First CW Farm


23. Peter Maurin Farm (1964-1979) 

Rose Hill Lane, Tivoli, NY


31. The Dorothy Day Center for the Study and Promotion of Social      Catholicism

4513 Manhattan College Pkwy, Bronx


*14. Maryfarm (1947-1950)

Newburgh, NY

Site of Peter Maurin’s passing.


27. Peter Maurin Farm (1979-present)

41 Cemetery Road, Marlboro, NY






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