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Cumberland Street Presbyterian Church (1940) |
Cumberland Street Presbyterian Church
103 Cumberland Street
Brooklyn, N.Y. 11217
The Cumberland Street Presbyterian Church grew out of a mission school started in 1861 by the Layfayette Avenue Presbyterian Church. Over the ensuing years the school grew rapidly and, in 1871, a large chapel was erected on Cumberland Street, between Myrtle and Park Avenues. Known originally as the Fort Greene Presbyterian Church, the brick building measured 70 by 100 feet and cost $42,000. For most of its existence the Fort Greene church relied on the financial support from its mother church. In the late 1880s, a widely reported scandal involving its pastor, Rev. Benjamin Staunton, resulted in a split congregation. The church was returned to mission status and in 1887 the name was legally changed to Cumberland Street Presbyterian Church. At some point, perhaps during the Depression years, the building was used as a Community Center of All Saints Episcopal Church, as noted by the organ record below, although supporting documention to this effect has not been discovered. Today, the site is occupied by the Walt Whitman Houses, a large housing complex completed in 1944. |
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Unknown Builder
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 14 stops, 14 ranks
The following specification was recorded (Aug. 1934) by Louis F. Mohr & Co., a longtime organ service concern in the area. Mr. Mohr's handwritten page is titled "All Saints Epis. Community Center" with the address "103 Cumberland St. Bkn." Mohr noted that the organ was an "old tracker" and had a detached and reversed console. The name of the organbuilder appears to have been erased, and of the six stops indicated for the Great division, only five were listed.No manual or pedal compasses were provided. An article in the Brooklyn Eagle (Oct. 25, 1887, p. 6) stated that the organ was worth $2,000. |
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Great Organ (Manual I)
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
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? |
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——— |
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8 |
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Claribella [sic] |
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4 |
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Rohr Flute |
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4 |
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Principal |
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2 |
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Fifteenth |
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Swell Organ (Manual II) – enclosed
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
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4 |
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Flute Harmonique |
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8 |
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Aeoline |
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8 |
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Hautboy [treble] |
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8 |
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St. Diapason |
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8 |
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Bassoon [bass] |
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4 |
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Violina |
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Pedal Organ
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16 |
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Bourdon |
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8 |
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[Violon]Cello |
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Couplers
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Great to Pedal |
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Swell to Great |
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Swell to Pedal |
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Swell to Great Octaves |
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Accessories
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Tremulant |
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Sources:
"The Fort Greene Presbyterian Church. It Returns to the Possession of the Lafayette Avenue Congregation," Brooklyn Eagle (Oct. 25, 1887, p.6).
Lafayette Avenue Church. Its History and Commemorative Services 1860-1885. New York: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1885.
Mohr, Louis F. & Co. Specifications (Aug 1934) of unknown organ at 103 Cumberland Street, Brooklyn. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
Stiles, Henry Reed. History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh. Brooklyn: pub. by subscription, 1863.
Illustration:
RNS Collection. 1940 photo of Cumberland Street Presbyterian Church. |
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