Church of the Holy Rosary - New York City (photo: Jim Henderson)
  Click on images to enlarge
Church of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin
(Roman Catholic)

444 East 119th Street
New York, N.Y. 10035


Organ Specifications:
Present building (since 1899):
► III/41 Reuben Midmer & Sons (1900); rev. A. Porto (1920s?)
First building (1884-1899):
• George Jardine & Son (<1891)




The Church of the Holy Rosary was organized in 1884. Thomas Houghton designed the Romanesque Revival-style building that opened in 1899.

In 2015, Holy Rosary Church was closed and the congregation consolidated with St. Paul's Catholic Church, located at 113th E. 117th Street.
         
  Church of the Holy Rosary - New York City (photo: Jim Henderson)
  Anthony Porto console
(credit: Fr. George Hafemann)
Reuben Midmer & Sons
Brooklyn, N.Y. (1900)
Tubular-pneumatic action; electrified by Anthony Porto (1920s)
3 manuals, 36 stops, 41 ranks



The original organ in the present church was built by Reuben Midmer & Sons of Brooklyn in 1900. Midmer used tubular-pneumatic action; the chest action was electrified by Anthony Porto in the 1920s or thereabouts. Compasses and pipecounts were not provided but are suggested below, based on similar organs by the same builder at that time. In 2017, the organ was found to be extant but unplayable due to a frozen motor; it was last used in the 1980s.
               
Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes
16
   Open Diapason
61
4
   Harmonic Flute
61
8
   Open Diapason
61
2 2/3
   Twelfth
61
8
   Doppel Flute
61
2
   Fifteenth
61
8
   Viol da Gamba
61
     Mixture IV ranks
244
4
   Octave
61
8
   Trumpet
61

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
61
4
   Traverse Flute
61
8
   Open Diapason
61
2
   Flageolet
61
8
   Stopped Diapason
61
     Cornet III ranks
183
8
   Salicional
61
8
   Cornopean
61
8
   Vox Celeste (TC)
49
8
   Oboe
61
8
   Aeoline
61
8
   Vox Humana
61
4
   Fugara
61
 
   Tremulant  

     

     
Choir Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason
61
4
   Flute d'Amour
61
8
   Keraulophon
61
4
   Violina
61
8
   Melodia
61
2
   Piccolo
61
8
   Dulciana
61
8
   Clarinet
61
8
   Quintadena
61
     Tremulant  
               
Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16
   Open Diapason
30
8
   Cello
30
16
   Bourdon
30
16
   Trombone
30
           
George Jardine & Son
New York City (<1891)
Mechanical action


The first known organ for Holy Rosary Church was built by George Jardine & Son of New York City. It seems likely that this organ was installed when the first building was opened in 1884. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.
           
Sources:
     The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X, Vol. III. New York: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914.
     "Catholic Church Matters. Dedicating the Church of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin," The New York Times (Oct. 6, 1884).
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Hafemann, Fr. George. Electronic correspondence (Oct. 13, 2017) regarding status of organ.
     Shelley, Thomas J. The Bicentennial History of the Archdiocese of New York 1808-2008. Strasbourg: Éditions du Signe, 2007.
     Smith, Rollin. Stoplist of Reuben Midmer & Son organ (1900).

Illustrations:
     Hafemann, Fr. George. Anthony Porto console (2017).
     Henderson, Jim. Exterior.