Church of St. Anthony of Padua (Catholic)


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Church of St. Anthony of Padua
(Roman Catholic)

155 Sullivan Street at West Houston Street
New York, N.Y. 10012
http://www.stanthonynyc.org

Organ Specifications:
155 Sullivan Street at West Houston Street (since 1888)
► II/28 Hutchings-Votey Organ Co. (1909);
elec. Midmer-Losh (1929); reb. Anthony Porto (1946)
• II/ Reuben Midmer & Sons – Lower Church?
► III/35 George Jardine & Son, Op. 933 (1886)
149 Sullivan Street, near Prince Street (c.1860-1888)
• George Jardine (1842)


149 Sullivan Street (1860-1888)

The parish of St. Anthony of Padua was founded in 1859 by the Church of St. Vincent de Paul, a French parish, and has the distinction of being the first parish in the United States created to serve the growing number of Italian Catholic immigrants. The first church was located at 149 Sullivan Street, near Prince Street, in an edifice originally built as the Sullivan Street Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1866, the Franciscan Fathers reestablished St. Anthony of Padua Church.


	1886 architect's drawing of present church

On June 13, 1886, the cornerstone was laid for the present church, which was built from 1886-88 at 155 Sullivan Street, near Houston Street, a site slightly north of and on the same block as the old church. Arthur Crooks designed the Italian Renaissance church that is 75 feet wide by 150 feet long. The gabled facade, of granite trimmed with limestone, has three entrances surmounted by a statue of St. Anthony, a stained glass wheel window that is 26 feet in diameter, and turrets that rise above the brick side walls. At the rear of the church, facing Thompson Street, is a four-story monastery 75 feet wide by 45 feet deep that provided 40 cells for the Franciscan Fathers. A campanile tower containing three bells is located on the north side between the church and monastery. The church's interior rises 86 feet high, and includes many stained glass windows in the clerestory, side aisles and sanctuary. Italian marble costing $12,000 was used for the pulpit, communion rail, sanctuary pavement, and three altars – the main altar is 17 feet wide and 26 feet tall – while the iron columns that support the clerestory were painted to represent marble. As originally built, the church could accomodate 1,500 in wooden settees on the main floor and rear gallery. There is a basement or lower church nearly 17 feet in height that can hold as many people as the upper church. The cost of the church and monastery was about $200,000. On Sunday, June 10, 1888, the new church was dedicated throughout the day, led by Archbishop John Corrigan and other Catholic dignitaries.

In the 1930s, Houston Street was greatly widened to accomodate the construction of the IND subway. Tenements located north of the church were demolished, and the previously hidden plain brick wall on the north side of the church was suddenly visible. The small space between the church's north wall and Houston Street is now used for an annual Nativity scene.

Hutchings-Votey Organ Co. Cambridge, Mass. (1909) Tubular-pneumatic action (1909) Electrified by Midmer-Losh (1929) Rebuilt by Anthony Porto (1946) 2 manuals, 24 stops, 28 ranks In 1909, an upper gallery was constructed in the church, and the organ was reconfigured as a divided two-manual instrument by the Hutchings-Votey company, then of Cambridge, Mass. Hutchings-Votey removed the Choir Organ, replaced the Swell Oboe with a period Vox Humana, and installed a new two-manual console with tubular-pneumatic action. The organ was electrified by Midmer-Losh in 1929. It was rebuilt again in 1946 by Anthony Porto, who installed pull-down stop actions and provided a supply house console. The original, elaborately stenciled façade was painted over in 1972. What remains of the Jardine was tonally intact in 1973. Restorative work was done in 2005 by John Klauder of Brooklyn. Klauder rebuilt the console with MIDI and relocated it to the main floor at the front of the church. The following specification is based on known changes made by Hutchings-Votey in 1909.

Great Organ (Manual I) – 61-note manuals, 58-note chests
16	Double Open Diapason	58	2 2/3	Twelfth	58
8	Open Diapason	58	2	Fifteenth	58
8	Gamba	58		Sesquialtera, 3 ranks	174
8	Doppel Flute	58	8	Trumpet	58
4	Principal	58	4	Clarion	58
4	Harmonic Flute	58		Chimes

Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61-note manuals, 58-note chests, enclosed
16	Bourdon	58	2	Piccolo	58
8	Open Diapason	58		Cornet, 3 ranks	174
8	Stopped Diapason	58	8	Cornopean	58
8	Gemshorn	58	8	Vox Humana *	58
8	Clariana	58		Tremulant
4	Principal	58		* replaced Oboe (1909)

Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16	Open Diapason	30	8	Violoncello	30
16	Bourdon	30

Reuben Midmer & Son
Brooklyn, N.Y. (1915)
Unknown action
2 manuals?

A Midmer Ledger Book entry (Dec. 15, 1915) for St. Anthony of Padua Church, N.Y.C., shows a charge for $2,100. It seems likely that this was for a small two-manual organ. This organ was probably installed in the Lower Church. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.

George Jardine & Son New York City – Opus 933 (1886) Mechanical action 3 manuals, 31 stops, 35 ranks The original organ for the present church, built at a cost of $8,000 by George Jardine & Son of New York City, was installed behind a case that was centered on a slightly elevated platform in the gallery over the main entrance.

Great Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes
16	Double Open Diapason	58	2 2/3	Twelfth	58
8	Open Diapason	58	2	Fifteenth	58
8	Gamba	58		Sesquialtera, 3 ranks	174
8	Doppel Flute	58	8	Trumpet	58
4	Principal	58	4	Clarion	58
4	Harmonic Flute	58

Swell Organ (Manual III) – 58 notes, enclosed
16	Bourdon	58	2	Piccolo	58
8	Open Diapason	58		Cornet, 3 ranks	174
8	Stopped Diapason	58	8	Cornopean	58
8	Gemshorn	58	8	Oboe	58
8	Clariana	58		Tremulant
4	Principal	58

Choir Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes
8	Geigen	58	4	Flute	58
8	Clarabella	58	2	Flageolet	58
8	Stopped Diapason	58	8	Clarinet	58
8	Dulciana	58

Pedal Organ – 30 notes
16	Open Diapason	30	8	Violoncello	30
16	Bourdon	30

Organ in first church located at 149 Sullivan Street:

George Jardine
New York City (1842)
Mechanical action

The parish of St. Anthony of Padua held services from about 1860 until 1888 in the former Sullivan Street Methodist Episcopal Church, built in 1839. Records show that George Jardine built an organ for the Methodists in 1842.

Sources:
     "Blessing a Cornerstone. Ceremonies at the Church of St. Anthony of Padua," The New York Times (June 15, 1886).
     "Blessing the Bells. An Interesting Ceremony at the Church of St. Anthony," The New York Times (April 4, 1887).
     De Ville, John. "Italians in the United States," The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VIII. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.
     Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Midmer & Sons Ledger Book entry (Dec. 15, 1915). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Shea, John Gilmary. The Catholic Churches in New York City. New York: Lawrence G. Goulding & Co., 1878.
     "St. Anthony's of Padua. Dedication of a Beautiful Church Structure on Sullivan Street," The New York Times (June 11, 1888).
     Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua website: http://www.stanthonynyc.org
     Trupiano, Larry. Specifications of George Jardine & Son organ, Op. 933 (1886) and history of rebuildings.

Illustrations:
     Shrine Church of St. Anthony of Padua website. Exterior.
     The Catholic Churches in New York City. Drawing (c.1877) of original church building.
     Trupiano, Larry. 1886 architect's drawing of St. Anthony of Padua Church.

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