The cornerstone for the building was laid on May 17, 1814, in a service that included an address by the Rev. Samuel Jarvis. The United States was at war with Great Britain at the time of its building in 1814; the church had to obtain permission from British Commander Hardy, whose fleet was blockading New Haven, to float its great wooden roof beams down the Connecticut River, along the sound and into New Haven Harbor. Commander Hardy reputedly said, "If there is any place on earth that needs religion, it is this New Haven. Let the rafts go through!"