- Church of St. Paul the Apostle (New York City)
-
Church of St. Paul the Apostle
Church of St. Paul the Apostle, July 2007
Location: 415 W. 59th St and Columbus Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York Coordinates: 40°46′11″N 73°59′7″W / 40.76972°N 73.98528°WCoordinates: 40°46′11″N 73°59′7″W / 40.76972°N 73.98528°W Built: 1876-1884[1] Architect: O'Rourke,Jeremiah; Deshon,Rev. George Architectural style: Late Gothic Revival Governing body: Private (Roman Catholic Church) NRHP Reference#: 91001723 Added to NRHP: December 5, 1991[2] The Church of St. Paul the Apostle is a substantial Roman Catholic church on Columbus Avenue between 59th and 60th streets, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. It is the mother church of the Paulist Fathers, the first order of Roman Catholic priests founded in the United States.[3]
The Late Gothic Revival-style church was built between 1876 and 1884 with Tarrytown granite to designs by Jeremiah O'Rourke and the Rev. George Deshon. The building was dedicated on January 25, 1885.[4][5]
The architect O'Rourke died before plans were complete and work was finished by the Rev. Deshon. The Paulist Fathers' founder Fr. Isaac Thomas Hecker may have had a hand in its design, using the thirteenth-century Cathedral of Santa Croce, Florence as a model.[4]
It contains interior elements designed between 1887-1890 by Stanford White and many large decorated side chapels. Later stained glass windows were added by John LaFarge.[4] Other artists who worked within include Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Frederick MacMonnies; Stanford White and Bertram Goodhue both offered advice on design elements.[6]
The New York Daily Tribune reviewed the architecture as "vast, plain, fortress-like in its solidity—almost repelling in the aesthetic cast without and within, yet it is the most August, unworldly interior of this continent."[4]
The sarcophagus of Hecker is located in the northeast corner of the nave. Other Paulist Fathers are entombed in crypt off a chapel on the lower level of the church.
The life of the parish has mirrored the growth, decline and rebirth of the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. It was largely impacted by creation of the Lincoln Center just two blocks to the north. The parish opened an elementary school in 1886 and a high school in 1922. The parish's last school closed in 1974.
Today, the parish, with six Masses each Sunday, has a large young professionals community and a Spanish-speaking community. It also hosts a bookstore and gift shop at the east end of the nave.
The large church basement has been used as a homeless shelter, soup kitchen, rehearsal space for The Rockettes and for boxing matches.
References
- ^ St Paul the Apostle parish website: "History of the Church"
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ 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 Together with some Supplementary Articles on Religious Communities of Women.. (New York City: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p.363.
- ^ a b c d Robert A. M. Stern, Thomas Mellins, and David Fishman. New York 1880: Architecture and Urbanism in the Gilded Age. (New York: The Monacelli Press, 1999), p.770
- ^ John A. Bonafide (September 1991). "National Register of Historic Places Registration: Church of St. Paul the Apostle". New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=5739. Retrieved 2011-03-25. See also: "Accompanying eight photos". http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=5738.
- ^ Norval White and Elliot Willensky, AIA Guide to New York City, rev. ed., (New York: Collier Books, 1978), p.146.
External links
Categories:- 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings
- Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Manhattan
- Gothic Revival architecture in New York
- Buildings and structures completed in 1884
- Churches in Manhattan
- Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
- Roman Catholic churches in New York
- Religious organizations established in 1858
- Irish-American culture
- Upper West Side
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
