St. Raphael Catholic Church - Long Island City (Queens), N.Y. (photo: Mitch Waxman)
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St. Raphael's Church
(Roman Catholic)

35-20 Greenpoint Avenue at Borden Avenue
Long Island City, N.Y. 11101


Organ Specifications:
Present building (since 1895)
► II/22 Reuben Midmer & Son (1896)
First building (c.1869-1895)
• unknown





St. Raphael Catholic Church - Long Island City (Queens), N.Y. (photo: Sebastian Glück)  
The parish of St. Raphael was established in 1865, and the first Mass was said in November 1868 by Rev. Theodore Goetz, who attended the parish from Winfield. At the time, the area was known as Blissville, named for Neziah Bliss, inventor, shipbuilder and industrialist, who owned most of the land in the 1830s and 1840s. Blissville was bordered by Calvary Cemetery to the east, Newtown Creek to the south, Dutch Kills (a tributary of Newtown Creek) to the west, and the Queens-Midtown Expressway to the north. Blissville existed as a small village until 1870 when it was incorporated with the villages of Astoria, Ravenswood, Hunters Point, Dutch Kills, Middletown, Sunnyside and Bowery Bay into Long Island City.

Located on Greenpoint Avenue at Borden Avenue, the first church was a wooden frame building that would serve as the mortuary chapel for Calvary Cemetery. The second pastor, Rev. N. J. Farrelly, who succeeded Father Goetz after his sudden death in 1879, was determined to build a new and larger church. In 1881, the old church was demolished to make room for the new, and Bishop Loughlin laid the cornerstone for the present church on June 18th that same year. However, due to a lack of funds only the stone basement was completed by Christmas. Over the next four years, sufficient funds were raised and the completed church was dedicated by Bishop Loughlin on June 7, 1885. Built of brick and sandstone, the church is 149 feet long, 69 feet wide, and the height of the steeple is 150 feet. It is believed that the Gothic-style church was designed by Patrick Keeley.
 
Reuben Midmer & Son organ (1896) in St. Raphael Catholic Church - Long Island City (Queens), N.Y. (photo: Sebastian Glück)   Reuben Midmer & Son organ (1896) in St. Raphael Catholic Church - Long Island City (Queens), N.Y. (photo: Sebastian Glück)
Reuben Midmer & Son
Brooklyn, N.Y. (1896)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 20 stops, 22 ranks
               
  Reuben Midmer & Son organ (1896) in St. Raphael Catholic Church - Long Island City (Queens), N.Y. (photo: Sebastian Glück)
  Setterboard
The "Organ Contract" (July 5, 1896) between Rueben Midmer & Son of Brooklyn and Rev. Peter Kearney of Blissville, L.I., states that Midmer would install a two-manual organ with 28 registers for a consideration of $2,700. Midmer provided a "Case in oak of suitable design and finish" with "Front pipes richly ornamented." This organ originally had mechanical action.

At an unknown time, the organ was rebuilt and electrified. The keydesk was refitted with 61-note keyboards and a 32-note pedalboard, although no pipes were provided for the additional notes. A setterboard combination action was also added. The swell pedal remains mechanical.
               
Great Organ (Manual I) – 58 notes (61-note keyboard)
8
   Open Diapason
56
4
   Flute d'Amour
58
8
   Viola Da Gamba
58
2 2/3
  Octave Quint
58
8
   Dulciana
58
2
   Super Octave
58
8
   Melodia
58
     Mixture, 3 ranks
174
4
   Octave
58
8
   Trumpet
58
               
Swell Organ (Manual II) – 58 notes (61-note keyboard), enclosed
16
  
Bourdon Treble
}
58
4
   Flute Harmonique
58
16
  
Bourdon Bass
}
4
   Violina
58
8
   Open Diapason
58
2
   Flageolet
58
8
   Salicional
58
8
  
Oboe [Treble]
}
58
8
   Stopped Diapason
58
8
  
Bassoon Bass
}
               
Pedal Organ – 27 notes (32-note pedalboard)
16
   Double Open Diapason
27
        
16
   Bourdon
27
        
               
Mechanical Registers
    Great to Pedal Coupler     Swell Tremulant
    Swell to Pedal Coupler     Bellows Signal
    Swell to Great Coupler     Wind Indicator
           
Pedal Movements
    Great Forte Combination Pedal   Reversible Pedal [Great to Pedal]
    Great Piano Combination Pedal   Balanced Swell Pedal
    Swell Forte Combination Pedal    
    Swell Piano Combination Pedal    
 
Sources:
     "A New Roman Catholic Church," The New York Times (Aug. 15, 1881).
     "Blissville, Queens," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blissville,_Queens
     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.
     "Dedication," Brooklyn Eagle (Jun. 8, 1885).
     Greater Astoria Historical Society with Thomas Jackson and Richard Melnick. Images of America: Long Island City. Charleston, S.C., 2004.
     Reuben Midmer & Son Factory Contract (July 5, 1896). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.

Illustrations:
     Glück, Sebastian. Interior; case, keydesk and setterboard of Reuben Midmer & Sons organ.
     Waxman, Mitch. Exterior (2008).