St. John Methodist Episcopal Church

231 West 53rd Street
New York, N.Y. 10019


St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church, located on West 53rd Street between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, worshiped in an edifice built in 1870 as designed by D. & J. Jardine. In 1895, the congregations of St. John's and Forty-third Street M.E. Churches were consolidated to form the Union Methoidst Episcopal Church. The combined congregations built a new church on West 48th Street, west of Broadway, that was dedicated on June 2, 1895. The old St. John's Church on West 53rd Street was sold to St. Mark's M.E. Church, an African-American congregation, who remained there until 1926 when they moved a new church on Edgecomb Avenue at 137th Street.
             
George Jardine & Son
New York City (c.1870)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 20 stops, 22 ranks


The George Jardine & Son organ built for St. John's Methodist Episcopal Church probably dates from the opening of the church in 1870. In 1895, the building and organ were sold to St. Mark's Methodist Episcopal Church, who remained at this location until 1926. The specification below is from the files of Louis F. Mohr & Co., who serviced the organ for St. Mark's M.E. Church.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes
8
   Open Diapason
61
2 2/3
   Twelfth
61
8
   Salicional
61
2
   Flageolet
61
8
   Melodia
61
8
   Trumpet
61
4
   Principal
61
4
   Clarion
61
4
   Wald Flute
61
        

     

     
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
16
   Bourdon
61
4
   Night Horn
61
8
   Open Diapason
61
     Cornet, 3 ranks
183
8
   Stopped Diapason
61
8
   Hautboy
61
8
   Dulciana
61
     Tremolo  
4
   Violina
61
      

     

     
Pedal Organ – 29 notes
16
   Open Diapason
29
8
   Violoncello
29
16
   Bourdon
29
        
               
Couplers
    Great to Pedal       Swell to Great  
    Swell to Pedal          
               
Accessories
    Swell Pedal [hook-down]        
    Electric Motor, also pumped by foot on left hand
             
Sources:
     Dunlap, David. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
     "Four Churches Made Two," The New York Times (Apr. 15, 1895).
     Mohr, Louis F. Specification of George Jardine & Son organ (c.1870). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     "A New Church Edifice Begun," The New York Times (Nov. 1, 1894).
     "New Churches Dedicated," The New York Times (June 3, 1895).