Elmendorf Reformed Church - New York City
   
Elmendorf Reformed Church

171 East 121st Street at Third Avenue
New York, N.Y. 10035
http://www.elmendorfrca.org








Harlem Dutch Reformed Church - New York City  
Harlem Reformed Church in 1880
 
The Elmendorf Reformed Church, which can trace its roots back to 1660 with the founding of the Harlem Reformed Low Dutch Church, is the oldest functioning religious institution in Harlem. Later known as the First Collegiate Church of Harlem, its first sanctuary was constructed by Jan Gulcke and Nels Matthyssen from 1665-67 on the Great Way (approximately First Avenue and 125th Street today). The second church, built of stone in 1685-87 at the same location, was destroyed during the Revolutionary War (1789) and subsequently rebuilt nearby. In 1825, Martin E. Thompson designed the third church, an Arcadian clapboard chapel, that was built on the Boston Road (Third Avenue) at 121st Street. In 1884, the church was turned 90 degrees so that it faced East 121st Street.

Harlem's population increased greatly as the elevated trains attracted residents to the area, and the Consistory of the Harlem Collegiate Church decided that an additional church was needed to serve West Harlem. After the Second Collegiate Church was built from 1885-87 at 101 West 123rd Street and Lenox Avenue, the Rev. George H. Smyth, pastor, and 150 wealthy members from First Church were transferred to the new congregation. In 1886, the Rev. Joachim Elmendorf was called to be the pastor of the economically-disadvantaged First Church. Dr. Elmendorf led his congregation to build a parish house and Sunday School, designed in Neoclassical style by John Ireland and built in 1893-94. After the deaths in 1908 of both Rev. Smyth and Rev. Elmendorf, the dual-church Collegiate system was abandoned and the old First Church on East 121st Street was razed. The parish house was refashioned as the Elmendorf Reformed Chapel, named in memory of the former pastor. As Harlem's population and racial balance changed during the twentieth century, the wealthy members of Second Church fled Harlem and moved to East 89th Street, occupying the former Episcopal Church of the Beloved Disciple, while the Elmendorf Church has remained and now serves a mainly Caribbean congregation.
           
Alexander Mills
New York City (c.1880-1890)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 20 stops, 22 ranks



It is not known exactly when this organ was built, but it may have been installed around 1884, after the church had been turned 90 degrees to face East 121st Street. Alexander Mills was born in Scotland in 1824, and was active as an organbuilder in New York City from 1850 to after 1887. He died on June 12, 1900. The organ had been greatly modified when purchased in the early 1970s by A. Graham Down.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8
  Open Diapason
58
3
  Twelfth
58
8
  Gamba
58
2
   Fifteenth
58
8
  Dolce [bass from Melodia]
46
8
   Trumpet
58
8
  Melodia
58
8
   Clarinet [TC]
46
4
  Principal
58
        
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
58
4
   Flute Harmonic
58
8
   Open Diapason
46
     Mixture, 2 & 3 ranks
?
8
   Viola
46
8
   Oboe
58
8
   Viole Celeste
46
     Tremolo *  
8
   Stop. Diapason Treble [TC]
46
    
* operated by a piston
between the keyboards
8
   Stop. Diapason Bass
12
    

     

     
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
   Open Diapason [wood]
30
8
   Violoncello
30
16
  Bourdon
30
        
               
Couplers
    Swell to Great       Bellows [signal, knob]  
    Swell to Pedal          
    Great to Pedal          
               
Composition Pedals
    Great Forte          
    Great Piano          
           
Sources:
     Adams, Michael Henry. Harlem Lost and Found: An Architectural and Social History, 1765-1915. New York: Monacelli Press, 2002.
     Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Elmendorf Reformed Church web site: http://www.elmendorfrca.org
     Fox, David H. A Guide to North American Organbuilders (Rev. Ed.) Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1997.
     Hickman, Cynthia. Harlem Churches at the End of the 20th Century. New York: Dunbar Press, 2001.
     Trupiano, Larry. Specifications of Alexander Mills organ.
     The WPA Guide to New York City: The Federal Writers Project Guide to 1930s New York. New York: The New Press, 1939.

Illustratioms:
     Elmendorf Reformed Church web site. Exterior.