St. Cecilia Church and Convent (New York City)

Last updated

St. Cecilia Church
St-cecilia-church-nyc.jpg
(2009)
Location map United States Manhattan.png
Red pog.svg
Location112-120 E. 106th St., Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates 40°47′32″N73°56′50″W / 40.79222°N 73.94722°W / 40.79222; -73.94722
Built1883-1887 (for church); [1] [2] [3]
Architect Napoleon LeBrun & Sons (for church); Neville & Basse; Thomas J. Duff of 348 West 14th Street (for 1927 dwelling) [3]
Architectural style Romanesque Revival
NRHP reference No. 84002796
Significant dates
Added to NRHPFebruary 2, 1984 [4]
Designated NYCLSeptember 14, 1976

St. Cecilia Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and a historic landmark located at 120 East 106th Street between Park Avenue and Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York. The parish was established in 1873. [5] It was staffed by the Redemptorist Fathers from 1939 to 2007. The church was designated a New York City landmark in 1976. [2] The church and convent were listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1984. [4]

Contents

History

St. Cecilia's parish developed from the southern portion of St. Paul's for what was then a predominantly Irish congregation. In the summer of 1873, the Very Reverend Hugh Flattery established a chapel in the Old Red House, a resort hotel located on 105th Street in East Harlem, until a small frame church was built, which was dedicated on August 20, 1873. In 1881, his successor, Monsignor William P. Flannelly purchased land on 106th St. and commenced building a church. The cornerstone was laid on September 9, 1883. Services were conducted in the completed basement, and the old church was donated to Holy Rosary parish and moved to E. 119th St. [5] The church was dedicated by Archbishop Michael Corrigan on November 27, 1887. [6]

Rev. Michael J. Phelan became pastor in 1884. He completed the church and built the parish school, St. Cecilia's Institute, staffed by the Sisters of Mercy, who also conducted a home for working women. [5] The home for working women ceased operations in the late 1930s, leaving only the sisters in the building. In November 1956, the Sisters of the Atonement opened a kindergarten and day care on the first floor. [7]

The parish of the Church of the Holy Agony was merged into that of St. Cecilia's. [8]

In July 2018, the parish conducted a "Street Mass" outside the church to reach out to homebound and fallen-away Catholics who live within the parish boundaries, and also accommodate parishioners physically unable to navigate the church's steep steps. [9]

Architecture

Constructed of brick and terra cotta, building began in 1883 to designs by Napoleon LeBrun & Sons in the Romanesque Revival style; it was completed in 1877. [10] Father Phelan acted as general contractor. The "...façade includes a porch that is supported by ten red granite columns, above which are seven stained glass windows. [6] A large terra cotta relief of St. Cecilia, playing an organ is embedded into an arched panel on the building’s central gable. An octagonal tower flanks each side of the front. The AIA Guide to New York City (2010) describes the church as an "ornate brick and terra-cotta facade is one of East Harlem's special treasures. Neo-Italian Romanesque, it has an exuberance that evaded most of Northern Europe."

Adjacent to the church, the "Regina Angelorum" was built 1907 to the designs of Neville & Bagge, [1] a façade that unites what was a home for working women built in 1883 and a convent built in 1885. "In the late 1930s, the convent took over the entire building until 2004, when the building was converted to the Cristo Rey New York High School." [11]

In 1927, the church built a four-storey brick dwelling house at 123-25 East 105th Street to designs by Thomas J. Duff of 348 West 14th Street for $60,000. [3]

It was listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 1984. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of Saint Patrick (Charlotte, North Carolina)</span> Historic church in North Carolina, United States

The Cathedral of Saint Patrick is the seat of the Roman Catholic Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America. It is the mother church of the Diocese of Charlotte and is the seat of its bishop. In 1987 it was included as a contributing property in the Dilworth Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Rosary Church (Manhattan)</span> Former church in Manhattan, New York

The Church of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a Catholic parish in the Archdiocese of New York at 444 East 119th Street, in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Keely</span> Irish-American architect

Patrick Charles Keely was an Irish-American architect based in Brooklyn, New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. He was a prolific designer of nearly 600 churches and hundreds of other institutional buildings for the Roman Catholic Church or Roman Catholic patrons in the eastern United States and Canada, particularly in New York City, Boston and Chicago in the later half of the 19th century. He designed every 19th-century Catholic cathedral in New England. Several other church and institutional architects began their careers in his firm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of St. Vincent Ferrer (Manhattan)</span> Historic church in New York, United States

The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer is a Catholic parish in the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1918 by the Dominicans; the attached priory serves as the headquarters of the Eastern United States Province of the order. Its architecture has some unusual features: above the front entrance is one of the few statues of the Crucifixion on the exterior of an American Catholic church; and inside, the Stations of the Cross depict Christ with oil paintings instead of statuary or carvings. It has two Schantz pipe organs. The church building, at the corner of Lexington Avenue and East 66th Street in the Lenox Hill section of the Upper East Side, has been called "one of New York's greatest architectural adornments."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. George's Episcopal Church (Manhattan)</span> Church in Manhattan, New York

St. George's Episcopal Church is a historic church located at 209 East 16th Street at Rutherford Place, on Stuyvesant Square in Manhattan, New York City. Called "one of the first and most significant examples of Early Romanesque Revival church architecture in America", the church exterior was designed by Charles Otto Blesch and the interior by Leopold Eidlitz. It is one of the two sanctuaries of the Calvary-St. George's Parish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Henry Poole</span>

Thomas Henry Poole was English-born architect who designed numerous churches and schools in New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. John the Evangelist Church (Cambridge, Massachusetts)</span> Historic church in Massachusetts, United States

St. John the Evangelist is a historic Roman Catholic Church at 2270 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manhattan Avenue (Manhattan)</span> Avenue in Manhattan, New York

Manhattan Avenue is a street in the Manhattan Valley neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City, extending from 100th Street to 124th Street. Not included in the original Commissioners' Plan of 1811, it is parallel to Columbus Avenue to the west and Central Park West/Frederick Douglass Boulevard to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holy Cross Church (Manhattan)</span> Church in New York City, US

Holy Cross Church is a Roman Catholic church located at 329 West 42nd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, near Times Square and across the street from the Port Authority Bus Terminal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">56 Pine Street</span> Historic commercial building in New York, United States

56 Pine Street – originally known as the Wallace Building after its developer, James Wallace – at 56-58 Pine Street between Pearl and William Streets in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1893-94 and was designed by Oscar Wirz in the Romanesque Revival style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Mary's Catholic Church (Delaware, Ohio)</span> Historic church in Ohio, United States

St. Mary's Catholic Church is a historic Catholic parish church in the city of Delaware, Ohio, United States. Constructed in the 1880s, this grand building is home to a congregation established in the middle of the nineteenth century. Its grand style has long made it a community landmark, and it was named a historic landmark in 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Saviour New York</span> Church in Manhattan, New York

Our Saviour New York, at 417 West 57th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, was built in 1886-87 and was designed by Francis H. Kimball in the Late Victorian Gothic style for the Catholic Apostolic Church, an English group which believed in an imminent Second Coming. In 1995, with the congregation dwindling, the church was donated to the Lutheran Life's Journey Ministries, which in 1997 rededicated it as the Church for All Nations. On April 26, 2015, the Church for All Nations held its last service. Members of the congregation still worship as All Nations Lutheran Church in a rehearsal studio at 244 West 54th Street. The church itself is now, in 2018, Our Saviour New York and is directed by lead pastor Matt Popovits and Mark Budenholzer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Our Lady of Lourdes Church (Manhattan)</span> Church in Manhattan, New York

The Church of Our Lady of Lourdes is a parish church in New York City, under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of New York, located at 463 West 142nd Street between Convent and Amsterdam Avenues in Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Aloysius Catholic Church (New York City)</span>

The St. Aloysius Catholic Church is a Catholic parish in the Archdiocese of New York, located at 209-217 West 132nd Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard and Frederick Douglass Boulevard in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Paul Church (New York City)</span> Catholic church in Manhattan, New York

The Church of St. Paul is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located in the East Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The sixth parish established in New York City, it was designated a New York City Landmark on June 28, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church of the Holy Agony (New York City)</span>

The Church of the Holy Agony was a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 1834 Third Avenue and 101st Street, in the East Harlem section of Manhattan, New York City. The parish was established in 1930 as a mission of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. The parish is staffed by the Vincentian Fathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church (New York City)</span> Church in Manhattan, New York

The Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family is a Black Catholic parish in the Archdiocese of New York, located at 401 West 125th Street at Morningside Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is the oldest existing church in Harlem and above 44th Street in Manhattan. On June 28, 2016, it was designated a New York City Landmark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. George's Syrian Catholic Church</span> Former Syraic Catholic parish church in New York City

St. George's Syrian Catholic Church is a former church located at 103 Washington Street between Rector Street and Carlisle Street in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The church is the last physical reminder of the Syrian American and Lebanese American community that once lived in Little Syria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Augustine Church (Pittsburgh)</span> United States historic place

St. Augustine Church is a historic Roman Catholic church in the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It has remained in use as a parish church since construction, currently serving Saint Pio of Pietrelcina Parish, which with St. Maria Goretti forms the Bloomfield/Garfield/Lawrenceville Grouping within the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The church has been operated by the Capuchin Friars since 1873 and is the headquarters of the Capuchin Province of St. Augustine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neville & Bagge</span> American architectural firm

Neville & Bagge was a major residential architecture and construction firm in New York City between 1892 and 1917. Its first office was in Harlem at 217 West 125th Street.

References

  1. 1 2 White, Norval; Willensky, Elliot; Leadon, Fran (2010). AIA Guide to New York City (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. p. 549. ISBN   978-0-19538-386-7.
  2. 1 2 Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Barbaralee (2011). The Landmarks of New York (5th ed.). Albany, New York: State University of New York Press. p. 188. ISBN   978-1-4384-3769-9.
  3. 1 2 3 Office for Metropolitan History, "Manhattan NB Database 1900-1986," (Accessed 25 Dec 2010).
  4. 1 2 3 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 Remigius Lafort, S.T.D., Censor, The Catholic Church in the United States of America: Undertaken to Celebrate the Golden Jubilee of His Holiness, Pope Pius X. Volume 3: The Province of Baltimore and the Province of New York, Section 1: Comprising the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn, Buffalo and Ogdensburg. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.321 PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
  6. 1 2 "Church of St. Cecilia", ncyago.com
  7. "St. Cecilia's Convent", Landmarks Preservation Commission, September 14, 1976
  8. St. Cecilia & Holy Agony Catholic Church
  9. Chicoine, Christie L. "St. Cecilia and Holy Agony Street Mass in Manhattan Draws 400 on Searing Sunday", Catholic New York, July 5, 2018
  10. Historic Preservation Field Services Bureau (August 18, 1982). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Saint Cecilia's Church" . Retrieved March 4, 2009. and Accompanying four photos, exterior and interior, from 1980
  11. "St. Cecilia's Roman Catholic church/Regina Angelorum", six to Celebrate. Historic Districts Council