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Calvary Presbyterian Church
909 Castleton Avenue at Bement Avenue
West New Brighton, Staten Island, N.Y. 10310
Calvary Presbyterian Church was organized on November 17, 1872, by thirty-five persons, most of whom had previously been members of the Dutch Reformed Church of Port Richmond. The society occupied a chapel that had been erected at the corner of Castleton and Bement Avenues during the summer of 1872, for use by a Sunday-school that had been organized in May of that year. In September 1874, the plain wooden chapel was doubled in size so that it could accomodate about 500 persons. On the evening of April 17, 1892, arsonists set fires in the area, and the chapel burned to the ground.
Plans for a new church began immediately after the fire, involving everyone who had been connected with the church and Sunday-school. Stephenson & Greene of New York designed a building that combined Romanesque and Tudor Revival styles. The new church was opened on March 4, 1894. Total cost of the building, with its furnishings, was $25,000. The New York Times described the new church on March 4, 1894:
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The walls up to the window sills are built of overburned brick laid in brown mortar and trimmed with Newark brownstone. The upper part of the building is of wood, covered with plaster slabs and cemented with Portland cement. The half-timber work is of Georgia hard pine stained a warm brown. The roof is covered with shingles stained a tile red.
The principal floor has two entrances from Castleton Avenue, one through the tower and the other through a framed timber porch and a double vestibule. Both lead to the auditorium, which is 67 feet long and 72 feet wide across the transepts and will accomodate 450 persons, 340 in the pews and 110 in chairs in the east transept, which is intended for children from an orphan home. This transept has sideways rolling partitions, so that it can be shut off from the auditorium and used for small meetings during the week. It has a large fireplace, built of Pompeian brick. The roof of the auditorium is cruciform and is carried by heavy Georgia pine trusses, worked with curved braces and octagonal tie beams. The roof is exposed on the interior all the way up to the ridge, and is celled up on the slope with narrow boarding of North Carolina pine. |
About 1952, the exterior of the church was altered when half-timbering was removed to facilitate the installation of stained glass windows. Three large windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios were salvaged from hurricane-damaged Randall Memorial Chapel at Sailors' Snug Harbor, along with smaller images of saints, and incorporated into the church by artist Thomas Harland. Three stained glass windows created by Stephen Alexander were added to the tower entrance vestibule. The adjacent parish house was a later addition. In 2002, Calvary Presbyterian Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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Ralph A. Clauson
Staten Island, N.Y. (c.1990)
Electro-pneumatic action
The present organ in the church was built by Ralph A. Clauson of Staten Island. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located. |
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M.P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 8116 (1949)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 35 registers, 10 stops, 10 ranks
In 1949,
the church commissioned a new organ to be built by M.P.
Möller
of Hagerstown, Md. The organ was fully enclosed and installed
in two chambers, one on either side of the chancel. Both
chambers had openings into the chancel and nave that
were covered by elaborate plaster grills. The Factory
Specification (October 5, 1949) shows that the organ
was on 4" wind pressure, and was played from a detached
two-manual stop-key console. Möller indicated that the
organ would be completed by November 1, 1950. |
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Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
73 |
4 |
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Flute (fr. Hohlflöte) |
— |
8 |
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Hohlflöte |
85 |
4 |
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Dulcet (fr. Dulciana) |
— |
8 |
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Dulciana |
85 |
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Tremolo |
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4 |
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Octave |
73 |
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Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
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16 |
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Bourdon |
97 |
4 |
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Flute d'Amour (fr. Bourdon) |
— |
8 |
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Geigen Principal |
73 |
2 2/3 |
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Nazard (fr. Bourdon) |
— |
8 |
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Gedeckt (fr. Bourdon) |
— |
2 |
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Flautino (fr. Bourdon) |
— |
8 |
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Salicional |
73 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
73 |
8 |
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Voix Celeste (TC) |
61 |
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Tremolo |
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Pedal Organ – 32 notes, enclosed with Great
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16 |
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Bourdon |
44 |
8 |
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Gedeckt (fr. SW Bdn.) |
SW |
16 |
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Lieblich Gedeckt |
SW |
4 |
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Flute |
SW |
8 |
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Flute (fr. Bourdon) |
— |
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Couplers
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Great to Pedal 8' |
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Great 16', 4', Unison Off |
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Swell to Pedal 8', 4' |
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Swell 16', 4', Unison Off |
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Swell to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Adjustable Combinations
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| Great & Pedal Stops |
Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 |
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| Swell & Pedal Stops |
Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 |
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| Full Organ |
Pistons No. 1-2-3-4 |
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| General Cancel Piston |
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Pedal Movements
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Balanced Great Pedal |
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Great to Pedal Reversible |
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Balanced Swell Pedal |
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Swell to Pedal Reversible |
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Balanced Crescendo Pedal |
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Sforzando Reversible |
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Accessories
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Expression Indicator light |
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Sforzando Indicator light |
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Crescendo Indicator light |
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Current Indicator light |
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Hook & Hastings
Boston, Mass. – Opus 1592 (1894)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 13 stops, 13 ranks
The original organ in the present edifice was built in 1894 by Hook & Hastings
of Boston, and was located at one side of the pulpit area. Charles Scharpenger,
an employee of Louis F. Mohr & Co., recorded the following specification. |
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Great Organ (Manual I) – 61
notes
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8
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Open Diapason |
61
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4
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Octave |
61
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8
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Dulciana |
61
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2
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Fifteenth |
61
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8
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Melodia |
61
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Swell Organ (Manual
II) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8
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Salicional |
61
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4
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Violina |
61
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8
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Voix Celeste (TC) |
61
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8
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Oboe |
61
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8
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Stopped Diapason |
61
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Tremolo |
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4
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Flute Harmonique |
61
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Pedal Organ – 27
notes
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16
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Bourdon |
27
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8
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Cello |
27
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Couplers
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Swell to Pedal |
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Great to Pedal |
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Swell to Great |
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Mechanicals
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Swell Pedal |
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Blower Signal (operates Kinetic Blower) |
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Organ in the original church:
George Jardine & Son
New York City (c.1872)
Mechanical action
1 manual
The original church building had a one-manual organ built by George Jardine & Son of New York City. Although the date of this organ is unknown, it may have been contemporary with the opening of the building in 1872. This organ burned with the church in 1892. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located. |
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Sources:
Alexander, Stephen R. Typed specification
of M.P. Möller organ, Op. 8116 (1949).
Morris, Ira K. Morris's Memorial History of Staten Island, New York, Vol II. West New Brighton, Staten Island: pub. by the author, 1900.
National Register of Historic
Places website: http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com
Scharpenger, Charles. Specification
of
Hook & Hastings
organ, Op. 1592 (1894). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
Scofield, Jeff. Factory Specification
(Oct. 5, 1949) of M.P. Möller organ, Op. 8116.
"To Worship In A New Church," The New York Times (Mar. 4, 1894).
Illustrations:
Clauson, Ralph A. George Jardine & Son organ (c.1872). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
Google.com. Exterior of present building.
Seventieth Anniversary Brochure,
pub. by Calvary Presbyterian Church, 1940. Exterior of 1872
building; Hook & Hastings organ, Op. 1592 (1894) in 1894
building. Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
The
New York Times (Mar.
4, 1894). Drawing of 1894 building. |
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