St. Joachim Catholic Church (c.1914) - New York City
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Church of St. Joachim
(Roman Catholic)

26 Roosevelt Street
New York, N.Y. 10002


Organ Specifications:
► II/18 Geo. Kilgen & Son, Op. 7024 (c.1940s)
• II/13 Müller & Abel (1902)


The Roman Catholic parish of St. Joachim was founded in 1888 by the Missionary Fathers of St. Charles Borromeo, led by Rev. F. Morelli, to provide assistance for the large number of Italian immigrants. Land on Roosevelt Street was purchased and upon it a Romanesque building seating 800 was erected. St. Joachim Church was the first Italian national church founded in the United States. Previously, Italian Catholics had been relegated to attending mass in the basements of neighboring churches. In 1914, St. Joachim's congregation numbered 18,000 members.

In 1967, a six-block area that included the church was cleared so that the Park Row housing development could be constructed. The parish of St. Joachim was merged into St. Joseph's Catholic Church, located nearby at 5 Monroe Street.
           
Geo. Kilgen & Son
St. Louis, Mo. – Opus 7024 (c.1940s)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 19 stops, 18 ranks



Sometime in the 1940s an organ built by Geo. Kilgen & Son was installed in the church. In the 1950s the organ was moved to St. Joseph's Catholic Church at 5 Monroe Street, where it is extant.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Open Diapason
61
     Mixture III ranks
183
8
   Hohlflute
61
8
   Trumpet
61
8
   Dulciana
61
     Tremolo  
4
   Octave
61
    
Chimes
21 tubes
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
8
   Geigen Diapason
61
2
   Flautino
61
8
   Stopped Flute
61
8
   Oboe
61
8
   Viola da Gamba
61
8
   Vox Humana
61
8
   Voix Celeste *
61
     Tremolo  
4
   Flute Harmonic
61
    
* also draws Viola da Gamba
               
Pedal Organ – 32 notes
16
   Major Bass
32
8
   Flute [Bourdon]
—
16
   Bourdon [unit]
44
8
   Still Gedeckt
SW
16
   Lieblich Gedeckt [ext. SW]
12
        
               
Adjustable Combinations
   
Swell Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4-5
Great Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4-5
Full Organ Pistons 1-2-3-4
               
Pedal Movements
    Balanced Great Expression Pedal   Great to Pedal Reversible
    Balanced Swell Expression Pedal   Full Organ Reversible
    Balanced Crescendo Pedal    
         
Müller & Abel
New York City (1902)
Tubular-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 13 stops


The first pipe organ in St. Joachim's Church was built in 1902 by Muller & Abel of New York City. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.

This organ was reported in The Music Trade (Feb. 15, 1902):
"Muller & Abel of No. 372 Second Avenue, New York, have just secured the contract to install an organ in St. Joachim's Roman Catholic Church, Roosevelt street, New York. The organ is to have two manuals and pedals, thirteen speaking stops and the usual couplers and accessories. The action will be tubular-pneumatic throughout. The keybox is to be extended so that the organist will face the singers. The instrument will be placed in the gallery at the back of the church, over the entrance. This will be the first pipe-organ ever installed in an Italian church [not true!] in New York. It is to be finished by May 15."
           
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.
     Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     Fox, David H. A Guide to North American Organbuilders (Rev. ed.). Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1997.
     Mahanor, Tali. Specifications of Geo. Kilgen & Son organ, Op. 7024 (ca.1940s).
     The Music Trade (Feb. 15, 1902). Item about Müller & Abel organ. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     "New Design Given in Park Row Plan," The New York Times (May 4, 1967).
     "Park Row Homes Approved By City," The New York Times (Jan. 10, 1958).
     "St. Joachim's Church Marks Fiftieth Year," The New York Times (Nov. 7, 1938).

Illustration:
     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. Exterior (c.1914).