The 1917 Grolier Club - 47 East 60th Street

Whitlaw Reid was editor of the New-York Tribune when he attended the first gathering of eight erudite men in the home of Robert Hoe on the evening of January 23, 1884.  Like Reid and Hoe, they were mostly involved in publishing and printing.  The new group called itself the Grolier Club, named after Jean Grolier de Servieres, a 16th century French book collector.  Reid's newspaper explained, "They talk of books and nothing but books--editions, dates, printers, bookbinders, illustrations, book plates, autographs."

The original membership of eight would grow prodigiously.  In 1890, the club moved into an impressive structure at 29 East 32nd Street, designed by Charles W. Romeyn.  That, too, would eventually become insufficient.  In 1916, two high-stooped brownstones at 47  and 49 East 60th Street were acquired and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue was commissioned to design the Grolier's third home.

Goodhue was better known for his ecclesiastical designs.  In fact, his latest, the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, was under construction on Lexington Avenue at the time.  As Romeyn had done, Goodhue gave the clubhouse a domestic tenor, able to slip inconspicuously into the still residential neighborhood.  His restrained, neo-Georgian design included a sumptuous marble entrance with fluted pilasters, and a cartouche and swags over the arched transom.

Faced in red Flemish bond brick, the building's 18th century motif included a delicate, full-width iron balcony at the second floor, layered keystones at the third, and a marble cornice above the fourth.  The fifth floor was unexpectedly stoic.

When the club opened in 1917, it was flanked by high-end private residences.  photograph by Wurts Bros., from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

Construction was completed early in December 1917 at a cost of $129,348.22 (just under $2.7 million in 2025).  The New York Times tepidly called Goodhue's building "attractive," adding that it would provide, "better facilities for members and the large library of works on the art of printing than were available in the old home."

Even before officially moving into its new headquarters, the Grolier Club staged an exhibition.  On December 7, The New York Times reported, "To commemorate the completion of the Grolier Club's new home at 47 and 49 East Sixtieth Street...an exhibition of books and miniatures from Persia and the Levant was opened yesterday."

With World War I raging in Europe, on December 13 The Sun reported, "Five new workrooms were opened yesterday by the American Fund for French Wounded to meet the rush of women volunteer workers on surgical dressings."  Among the five locations were the new Grolier Club.

The Grolier Club Report, April 1918 (copyright expired)

At the first official meeting of the club within its new home, president Arthur H. Scribner described, "a club-house ideally suited to our requirements in location, spaciousness and architectural beauty, while retaining enough of the feeling of our old club-house to put us at once at home."

The Exhibition Hall (above) and Library.  The American Printer, June 5, 1925.

Although the membership of the Grolier was composed only of Caucasian males, Troy H. Hinton, was an integral cog in the workings of the Grolier Club.  Born in Raleigh, North Carolina in 1859, he arrived in New York City in 1883.  According to The New York Age on January 18, 1930, "During most of this time he was employed as the steward of the Grolier Club, a wealthy white organization."  After serving the club for nearly half a century, Hinton died on January 7, 1930.

The first Black member of the Grolier Club was not alive when Hinton died.  Herbert H. Johnson was born in 1936.  A book designer for major publishers, he became an educator and curator of the Melbert B. Cary Collection of the Rochester Institute of Technology.  He amassed a personal collection that focused on book design and typography.  On April 15, 1970, the Grolier Club opened an exhibition titled, "Bruce Rogers: Sixty Years of Book Design."  (Bruce Rogers had been a member of the Grolier.)  The exhibition was curated by Herbert H. Johnson.  According to Bruce and Mary Crawford and Scott Ellwood, club curators, "a few days before the show opened, [member John M.] Crawford sent the first letter nominating Johnson to membership."

By the early 1960s, the original membership of eight had grown to 600.  In May 1964, in celebration of the club's 80th anniversary, the members held an auction at the Park-Bernet Galleries.  The New York Times reported, "about 185 members donated rarities from the 15th to the 20th century."  The article said, "The auction raised $76,385 for renovation of the club's building at 47 East 60th Street."

The regular exhibitions at the Grolier Club fascinated New Yorkers throughout the decades.  One, perhaps, stood out.  On April 21, 1971, The New York Times reported that a Mayan relic, part of the "Ancient Mayan Caligraphy" exhibition, "is expected to throw new light on the religion and astrological philosophy of the ancient Mayan culture of Mexico and Central America."  The codex, "which is composed of bark cloth," was hailed by Dr. Michael D. Coe of Yale University as, "an important find...that furnishes us with additional pictorial information on the Venus calendar and its influence on Mayan religion and astrology."  He called the fragment, "nothing less than a miracle" that it had survived.

A $4.6 million renovation to the Grolier Club's interiors was completed in 2018.  Designed by Ann Beha Architects, it preserved Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue's integrity, while bringing the club's functionality into the 21st century.  On January 17, 2019, Jennifer Schuessler of The New York Times wrote, "Last month it celebrated the centennial of its Georgian-style building and the renovation of its ground-floor exhibition hall."  

The renovated Exhibition Hall, photograph by Ann Beha Architects.

The Grolier Club members continue to be passionate book lovers, and New Yorkers still gravitate to its dignified clubhouse to absorb its regular exhibitions.

photographs by the author

Bertram Goodhue's 1914-18 Church of St. Vincent Ferrer - 869 Lexington Av.

 

photograph by Jim Henderson

On November 10, 1867, the Dominican Fathers (described as the "fathers of the white-robed order," by The Evening World), laid the cornerstone for a brick chapel and school at the northeast corner of Lexington Avenue and 65th Street.  It was the first of three buildings on (or near) the site for the parish of St. Vincent Ferrer.

In 1912, the congregation received renderings for its third structure.  Most of the Gothic Revival designs included soaring spires and were reportedly rejected as being, "approximately a miniature of St. Patrick's Cathedral."  The commission was given to Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue--his first substantial ecclesiastical work after the recent dissolution of Cram, Goodhue & Ferguson.

The existing building sat north of the priory, which was built on the site of the original chapel in 1879.  The church was demolished in 1914.  (The congregation moved into a temporary structure on East 67th Street--a situation that would last for four years.)  Goodhue's plan--a Latin Cross configuration in the Gothic style--closely adhered to Dominican traditions, especially in the exterior iconography.

Four years after ground was broken, on April 29, 1918, The Sun reported that the dedication of "the beautiful new Church of St. Vincent Ferrer" would be held on May 5.  Calling the edifice "magnificent," the article said, "Before the very last touches have been put to it, the church will have cost about $1,500,000.  The windows are the largest in any church in the United States."  (The figure would translate to $30.3 million in 2025.)

The dedication ceremony of what The Sun called "probably the largest parish church in America" was impressive.  It was celebrated by Cardinal John Murphy Farley and assisted by Archbishop Bonzano, Apostolic Delegate to the United States, and other dignitaries.  The article said, "An orchestra of forty-five pieces from the New York Symphony Orchestra, a men's choir of twenty voices and a vested choir of sixty-five boys sang at both services."  Additionally, tenor Giovanni Martinelli and baritone Mario Laurenti from the Metropolitan Opera were soloists.

Goodhue had created an architectural masterpiece faced in rough-cut granite and trimmed in limestone.  The 1927 Handbook to Catholic Historical New York City would call the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, "The finest example of modern Gothic architecture in the city."  Architecture and Building said, "Lovers of the beautiful, the artistic and the old, owe a great debt to the Dominican Fathers attached to the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer, of New York, as well as to Mr. Goodhue, the architect."  The major sculptural decoration was the work of Lee O. Lawrie, described by Architecture and Building as "one of America's greatest ecclesiastical sculptors."

Architecture and Building, July 1919, (copyright expired)

The magazine noted, "the most interesting feature of this church building is the attention which has been paid in the design, ornamentation and decoration thereof, as well as in the use of symbols, to the traditions peculiar to the Dominican Order."  In the tympanum of the entrance was a carving of St. Vincent Ferrer.  Architecture and Building explained, "This image...will be flanked by his symbols, consisting of the dog and devil's head, and St. Francis, founder of the Franciscans with his symbols, the Lamb and the Wolf."  The arch directly above was full of symbolism.  "The arch label ends with two figures representing the Old and New Dispensations.  St. Veronica, holding the Veil with the imprint of Christ's face thereon represented the New, and a partially veiled head represents the Old," said the article.

Highly unusual was the Crucifix, or Rood, "very boldly chiselled [sic]," according to the article, that dominated the center of the arch.  It remains one of the few exterior depictions of the Crucifixion in an American Catholic church today.  Goodhue had designed the great west rose window so that all the subjects in the stained glass were right side up.  

Carved into the octagonal turrets were figures of Art, Science and Philosophy "in the persons of members of the Dominican Order, with whom these particular branches of learning are identified," explained O. H. Murray, of Bertram G. Goodhue Associates.

Architecture and Building, July 1919, (copyright expired)

The interior was cathedral-like.  To the sides were chapels--the Lady Chapel, the Chapels of St. Joseph and St. Patrick, the Chapel of the Sacred Heart; and the Dominican Friars' Chapel.  O. H. Murray explained that the St. Joseph and St. Patrick chapels were "closed off from the aisle by beautiful examples of wrought-iron grilles and gates."

This Spanish Gothic screen was executed by master metalworker Samuel Yellin.  The International Studio, November 1921 (copyright expired)

Interestingly, the dedication ceremony was not the first large event to take place in the newly completed church.  Just over a month earlier, on March 30, 1918, the funeral for Martin John Sheridan, "famous athlete and policeman," as described by The Sun, had been held here.  The newspaper said, "though the church is a large one it was barely large enough to hold the host of friends who had turned out to pay their last tribute to the hero of many a hard fought battle won."  Among those who packed the sanctuary that afternoon were, "women and children, including policemen and firemen, Judges and one former Governor of New York State--men of all walks of life."

Born in Ireland in 1881, Sheridan had participated in the 1904 and the 1908 Olympic Games, winning three gold medals in the discus throw.  He served with the New York City Police Department from 1902 until his death on March 27, 1918 when he succumbed to the Spanish Influenza the day before his 37th birthday.  

photograph by Bestbudbrian

A three-day celebration of St. Vincent Ferrer in 1919 terminated in a solemn pontifical high mass on April 6, celebrated by Archbishop Patrick J. Hayes.  The New-York Tribune reported, "The occasion attracted more people than the new Gothic church would hold."  The article said, "The solemnity of the mass was especially impressive to the worshippers who crowded into the nave and chancel of the church, built after the mediaeval design of the old monastic order."

Another impressive funeral was that of Thomas M. Farley, former Sheriff of New York County and Tammany leader, which was held here on April 7, 1934.   The New York Times reported, "More than 2,500 friends, relatives and Tammany Hall colleagues" attended the service.  Despite the rainy weather, thousands more crowded the avenue outside.

On September 22, 1935, a statue of Blessed Martin de Porres, beatified by Pope Gregory XVI in 1837, was unveiled here.  A movement was underway at the time for his canonization.  In an interesting example of the inherent racism of the times, the headline in The New York Times read, "Statue Is Unveiled For Catholic Negro."

The reredos and the Great East Window.  photograph by Bestbudbrian

The Church of St. Vincent Ferrer was, of course, routinely the scene of impressive funerals and weddings.  One that, perhaps, stood out was the marriage of socialite Barbara Cecile Hoge and Prince Ivan Peter Obolensky on February 4, 1950.  The bride, said The New York Times, was "a descendant of William Hoge, who came to this country from Scotland early in the seventeenth century [and] of Alexander Hoge, Gen. James Hoge, prominent Virginians; Gov. Hoge Tyler of that state and John Otis, brother of James Otis, Revolutionary patriot."

The groom, said the article, was "a brother of Prince Alexander Obolensky, is a nephew of Princess Alexis Obolensky, Prince Vladimir Troubetzkoy, Prince Nicholas Troubetzkoy and Countess Nicholas Lansdorff."  Prince Sergei Obolensky, Prince Alexis Obolensky, and Prince Kyril Galitzine were among the wedding party.

photograph by Jim Henderson

More than a century after Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue deemed it his best work in the ecclesiastical field, the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer remains one of Manhattan's most striking and important Gothic style structures.

St. Bartholomew's Church - 109 East 50th Street

The congregation of St Bartholomew's Protestant Episcopal Church, founded in 1835, worshiped in a simple structure at the corner of Great Jones Street and Lafayette Place until 1872 when it moved into its new home at Madison Avenue and 44th Street.

The 1872 structure was designed by James Renwick Jr.  from the collection of the New-York Historical Society

St. Bartholomew's counted among its members some of the wealthiest and most influential citizens of Manhattan--perhaps none more active in the church's affairs than the extended Vanderbilt family.  

On Friday, December 11, 1885 the casket of William Henry Vanderbilt was removed from his Fifth Avenue mansion and a procession of 60 carriages accompanied it to St. Bartholomew's.  It was the first of a succession of Vanderbilt funerals in the church, culminating with that of Cornelius Vanderbilt II in September 1899.

On June 22, 1902 The New York Times reported "Plans for the new bronze doors and portals for St. Bartholomew's Church, which have been given by Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt in memory of her husband, have been prepared by the architects, McKim, Mead & White."  The 11-foot tall central double doors, eight feet in width, were designed by sculptors Daniel C. French and Andrew O'Connor.  The northern door was modeled by Philip Martiny and the southern by Herbert Adams.  The four artists were responsible for the marble reliefs of the porch as well.

The Times announced "A new porch, with three ornamented Romanesque arches, is to be erected across the Madison Square front of the church in order to show off the beauty of the new doors and tympanums.  This porch is to be 75 feet in width and 28 feet in height.  It is to contain twenty-four columns of green marble, several niches and statues, and a rich frieze carved in the stone between the pillars."  In all 400 figures were depicted in the doors and portals.

The installation was completed by April 1904 when The Architectural Record, while giving McKim, Mead & White its just dues, commented that the new portals and bronze doors "are more evidently the work of the sculptor than of the architect."

Photographed in 1916, the church had gained a portal and lost a spire.  McKim, Mead & White's installation fit seamlessly into the structure.  from the collection of the New-York Historical Society

In January 1917 the church's rector, Rev. Dr. Leighton Parks, announced that $1 million had been collected within a 10-month period for the construction of a new edifice.  The site had been acquired on the east side of Park Avenue between 50th and 51st Streets.  Until recently Park Avenue had been an unfashionable street, but the lowering of the train tracks into Grand Central Terminal had changed all that.

The New York Times reported "It was also stated that work on the new church was to be begun immediately, the old brewery buildings have already been removed, and that services probably would be held in the new edifice by the Fall of 1918."  Construction costs had been projected at $1.2 million ($23.5 million in today's dollars).  The new St. Bartholomew's, said the article "will be one of the finest and costliest in America."

The congregation had hired architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue in 1914 to begin designing its new structure.  As he worked and reworked the plans the costs rose.  On May 2, 1917 The New York Times reported "The new edifice will cost $3,000,000, and will be constructed of Indiana limestone."

Goodhue's original 1916 rendering included a massive dome.  image via St. Bartholomew's Conservancy

The cornerstone was laid on May 1, 1917 in the presence of 300 members.  Within the previous two months another $1 million had been raised for the project.  Within the cornerstone were an Episcopal Prayer Book, a copy of the church plans, a history of the church and other items, including 1917 coins ranging from a penny to a $20 gold piece.  Not surprisingly, among those who "braved the rain," according to The Times, was Alice Vanderbilt.

Also not surprising was that Mrs. Vanderbilt's costly gift in memory of her husband--what would become known as The Vanderbilt Porch--was included in Goodhue's new design.

The Vanderbilt Porch was removed from the Madison Avenue church and installed at the new site.

The building was formerly opened on October 20, 1918.  The war in Europe prompted a newspaper to say "Patriotism and religious fervor were the predominating notes of the service."  Following the processional hymn the congregation sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" and Dr. Parks made a special prayer for the military men who had lost their lives.  He read the complete roll of the church members currently serving.

Although usable for worship, the church was still not completed.  In his remarks Dr. Parks noted "It is not finished and in many respects the interior is bare.  We have been unable to carry out the plans for the dome and cloisters, and burlap covers parts of the wall that should be tiled or otherwise decorated.  Undoubtedly in time the church will reach a completed state."  It would take decades for his prophesy to come to be fulfilled.

It would be years before the dome was constructed.  photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The church could not be dedicated until the debt was eliminated, and that took place on May 1, 1923.  The New York Times explained "The consecration was made possible by the liquidation of the last $155,000 of debt upon the building."  It was an imposing ceremony that included several bishops and numerous clergymen.

Modernism--a movement among certain priests to reevaluate traditional church tenets--was causing upheaval in the Episcopal Church at the time.  And the Rev. Dr. Leighton Parks embraced its often controversial viewpoints.  They were not shared by Alice Vanderbilt and the inevitable breaking point came during services on December 16, 1923.

The Niagara Falls Gazette reported the following day that before entering the pulpit he removed his surplice and stole, "symbols of his priesthood."  His following sermon shocked and infuriated Alice Vanderbilt.

"He challenged both the doctrines of the virgin birth and the bodily resurrection and welcomed a trial for heresy," said the article."  It was the last straw for Mrs. Vanderbilt.

Two months later, on February 27, 1924, The New York Times reported "Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Sr. has left St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church...She has been a member of St. Bartholomew's for fifty years, and she and her late husband were so active in its life and so generous in their support of the church and all its philanthropies that St. Bartholomew's often was referred to as 'the Vanderbilt Church.'"  The article cited the December sermon as the cause of the rift.

The upheaval was not merely local news.  The upstate newspaper the Watertown Standard ran a front page headline on February 26, "Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Quits St. Bartholomew's Because of Controversy" and said she "has attended services at the equally fashionable St. Thomas' church, it was learned today."

The following year Rev. Parks stepped down and in March 1925 his replacement, the Rev. Dr. Robert Norwood, was announced.  The differences in their theological stances could not have been more extreme.  Norwood told reporters that all modernism was "slander against God" and said it "crucifies Christ again."

Under Rev. Norwood a new community house was begun in 1926, designed by Mayers, Murray & Phillip, associates of Bertram G. Goodhue.  The architects sympathetically drew from Goodhue's Byzantine design and the church's materials and  colors to create a harmonious complex.  Congregation members (for a $1 per month fee) would enjoy the 60-foot long swimming pool (touted as "the finest swimming pool in any such plant") and gymnasium on the ground floor.  The first floor held an auditorium and stage where a full-time dramatic director would stage amateur theatricals.

The second floor held offices and the library.  The New York Times, on November 27, 1927, said "The third is the Women's Floor.  There are large parlors and lounge rooms equipped with folding card tables.  Bridge will be allowed but no playing for money will be permitted."  Above was the Men's Floor with pool and billiard rooms, parlors and lounge rooms, and a grill room.  This fifth floor was devoted to children, with a kindergarten (tuition was $150 per year, just over $2,000 today), and quarters for Boy Scouts.  Staffing the new building required six stewards, three maids, two telephone operators and two elevator operators.

The community house is seen to the right.  photo by Wurtz Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

With the community house completed, the congregation turned its focus on completing the church proper.  On April 7, 1929 Dr. Norwood informed the congregation that more than half a million dollars of the projected $700,000 had been pledged for the erection of the dome and completion of the interiors.

The following January The Times announced that work on the "mosaic work in the narthex of the church," a new 1,825-pipe Skinner organ, and construction of the dome were just months away.  The article added "when these projects have been carried out the church, which is one of the most striking examples of the modern phase of Byzantine architecture in the world, will be practically completed."

The extent of the renovations, which included the installation of several memorials, led the vestry to decide to have a new dedication.  It was officially re-opened by Dr. Norwood on October 5, 1930.  He praised the building as "a perpetual hymn to God."  The mosaics had been executed by Hildreth Meiere, windows by J. Gordon Guthrie, and the new sculptures by Lee Lawrie.   Except for nearly two dozen stained glass windows, the church was complete.

The redecorated sanctuary was clad in deeply veined marble--a material which sparked declarations of a miracle in February 1932.  Dr. Norwood preached a sermon on the resurrection on February 20, 1932 and as he turned from the pulpit, in his words, "was amazed to see this lovely figure of Christ in the marble.  I had never noticed it before.  As it seemed to me to be an actual expression o the face of the marble of what I was preaching, 'His Glorious Body,' I consider it a curious and beautiful happening."

A journalist from The New York Times described it on February 23 as "a figure of Christ, clothed in white and rising from the dead...The figure, measuring about one foot and a half in height, is enclosed in an oval, resembling in miniature the heroic representation of the Transfiguration over the high altar."  The article said that a worshiper who came to pray the day before "was so impressed by the picture, even in the dim overheat altar lights, that he believed it to be a part of a mural painting."

The news prompted a pilgrimage of sorts.  On February 24 the newspaper reported "People streamed all day yesterday into St. Bartholomew's Church...where they viewed in silence the figure of Christ, which is clearly discernible in the veining of the brownish marble on the wall of the sanctuary."

The Rev. Dr. Norwood died of a cerebral hemorrhage on September 29 that year at the age of 58.  The Times pointed out, "One of the most forceful speakers in the pulpit, Dr. Norwood preached almost invariably to a full church of more than 2,000 persons."  His funeral, on October 1, saw St. Bartholomew's Church packed.  "More than 2,200 persons in all walks of life, among them clergymen of many denominations, crowded the edifice, and late comers stood at the rear," said The Times.

In December 1942 The Rev. Dr. George Paull T. Sargent announced that funds had been donated for 15 stained glass windows.  Miss Harriett E. Sheldon and Mrs. James Sheldon would provide 12 chapel windows and two clerestory windows in memory of their sister, Adelaide Sheldon; and the rose window was donated by Mrs. Henry White in memory of her daughter, Lila Vanderbilt Field.

By the time the windows were dedicated on November 19, 1944, the number had risen to 22.  The Sheldons were not only responsible for 21 stained glass windows, but a chapel altar cross.  Another window was dedicated to Ellen Brymer Williams, mother of the the church's organist and choirmaster David McK. Williams.

By 1980 the Park Avenue property under St. Bartholomew's Church was a tempting target for developers.  In September 1980 a "very prestigious American corporation" offered the church $100 million for the property.  Carter B. Horsley, writing in The New York Times on September 19, noted "The church, which is noted for its modified Byzantine eclectic architecture, is an official city landmark, and approval for demolition or any alteration to its facade must be sought from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission."  That condition would result in a long and heated battle.

The vestry and the congregants were split.  The rector, the Rev. Thomas D. Bowers, led the charge to sell and demolish the Community House to raise funds for the church's work with the poor and elderly.  The other faction argued that the disposition of any church property would detract from its symbol as a Christian haven in "bustling midtown Manhattan."

The Bowers camp seemed to have won when St. Bartholomew's laid plans for a 59-story office building on the site of the Community House.  A hearing lasting nearly nine hours took place at the Landmarks Preservation Commission offices on January 31, 1984.  Dozens of witnesses testified on both sides of what The Times's David Dunlap deemed "one of the most important landmarks struggles of the decade."

When the LPC vetoed the plans, St. Bartholomew's Church sued the city, claiming its landmarks preservation law was unconstitutional.  A formidable opposition joined forces--among them Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Brooke Astor and Brendon Gill.   It ended up in the United States Supreme Court.  Twice.

On July 10, 1987 a federal judge ruled that the New York City law was constitutional.  Refusing to concede, St. Bartholomew's appealed.  On December 13, 1989 a second judge "rejected a broad challenge to the New York City's landmarks preservation law by St. Bartholomew's Church."  

So the church sued again, this time fighting the designation and charging "that landmark status interfered with its freedom of religion and its property rights."  And again it lost.  On September 12, 1990 The New York Times reported "The landmark designation of St. Bartholomew's Church on Park Avenue was upheld unanimously yesterday by the Federal Court of Appeals."

The church had exhausted its options.  Taking the "if you can't beat them, join them" position, in 1992 the church established the St. Bartholomew's Preservation Foundation.  Restoration of the structure, including the leaking dome, was begun.  The dome restoration was completed in September 2017.

The remarkable church and Community House were designated National Historic Landmarks in 2015.

photographs by the author

Goodhue's Masterful Church of the Intercession - Broadway and 155th Street

When the city-loathing John James Audubon completed his home--actually a working farm--at what would become Riverside Drive and 156th Street in 1842, the estate was surrounded by woodlands, creeks and a small waterfall.    That same year Trinity Church purchased land abutting the Audubon property with the intention of establishing a chapel in the "far upper part of the city."

Audubon's house sat within a woodlands setting.  watercolor by William Rickarby Miller, 1857.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Other than Audubon, whose home was year-round, the area was dotted mostly with summer estates around the tiny village of Carmansville.  Trinity's venture may have had another goal in mind.  Trinity Churchyard at the opposite end of Manhattan was nearly filled.  Within a year the new Trinity Church Cemetery had its first burial.  Despite its remoteness, the cemetery would eventually be the final resting place of an eclectic collection of millionaires, writers and the famous (and not so famous)--including nearly two dozen Astors, Clement Clarke Moore, and John James Audubon himself.

Trinity Church was less urgent in erecting the chapel.  In 1846 Audubon and neighbor John R. Morewood were instrumental in forming the parish of the Church of the Intercession, which initially held services in Morewood's parlor.  The following year a quaint Victorian Gothic style frame structure was completed.  It was replaced in 1872 by a more substantial, stone building at what would become 158th Street and Broadway.

The Church of the Intercession suffered financial problems in the last years of the 19th century; and in 1903 its wealthy and socially prominent pastor Rev. L. H. Schwab resigned "on account of ill-health," according to The Successful American.  Things would soon turn around for the congregation.

On October 27, 1903 The New York Times announced that the vestry of the Church of the Intercession had offered the job to the Rev. Milo H. Gates.  Although he had been ordained by Bishop Potter only three years earlier, he had made a significant reputation for himself, having served as rector of the Church of the Ascension in New York, and was currently the rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Cohasset, Massachusetts.

Five years after receiving its highly popular pastor, Intercession was taken over by Trinity Corporation, making it the sixth of Trinity's chapels in Manhattan and earning it its new name, the Chapel of the Intercession.  Immediately Trinity's vestry laid plans for a magnificent new chapel building.

Trinity announced that the current Chapel of the Intercession was "old, out of repair, and regarded as wholly inadequate for the rapidly growing needs of that section of the city."  Their choice of sites surprised some and annoyed many.

On April 15, 1909 The Times explained "Just inside the gate of Trinity Cemetery, at Amsterdam Avenue and 154th Street, there is a plot several hundred feet square which has never been laid off in burial lots, but is now used as a lawn.  This is practically the only unoccupied space in the cemetery, and lends itself, in the opinion of the Vestry, admirably to the plans under consideration."  The article said that attendance at the chapel's services had greatly increased since the arrival of Rev. Gates, making "the almost dilapidated condition of the present chapel-house" unfeasible.

Trinity Church commissioned Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson, widely known for its neo-Gothic architecture, to design the building.  The project was taken on solely by partner Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue and he would later consider it his crowning work.

On Thursday October 24, 1912 the impressive cornerstone laying ceremonies took place.  The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society magazine reported "A procession of lay and clerical officials, preceded by the chapel choir and trumpeters, marched from the old church at Broadway and 158th Street to the site of the new building."  Several hundred members of the congregation witnessed the event, including Elisha Audubon, daughter of the artist and naturalist.  Somewhat appropriately, the rear of the new building nearly abutted Audubon's grave site.

The contents of the first cornerstone had been placed inside the second.  Now both were placed into the latest cornerstone, along with a current Bible and "several religious publications."

Goodhue had designed a building of cathedral-like proportions.  The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society reported "Its length will be 200 feet; the breadth of the west front including porches, 70 feet; and the total inside width, 57 feet.  The chancel, one of the largest in New York, will be 51x37 feet in size.  The inside height will be 81 feet."

The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society magazine published this rendering, based on Goodhue's drawings, at the time of the cornerstone laying.  (copyright expired)

While construction continued, Rev. Gate embarked on his own project for the new building.  On September 14, 1913 The Sun reported "When the great Chapel of the Intercession on Washington Heights, which many believe will be the finest example of ecclesiastical art and architecture in New York, if not in the country, begins in a few months to approach completion visitors will probably find its altar the most absorbing within the whole edifice."  While the article admitted there was nothing out of the ordinary in terms of its dimensions and general design, it explained "its sides will be concealed beneath a rich bronze vine whose tendrils will grip a mass of relics from every part of the world."

Years earlier Gates had come across a little mountain church in northern Spain.  Worked into its altar were bits of ruined sculpture, "relics of the days of the Moors," said the article.  Gates was inspired to make the new chapel's altar a reliquary as well.  "Friends were notified and leaders in archaeological work, heads of great churches, scholars and enthusiasts in a half dozen countries volunteered their services."

The result was that 1,563 stones were worked into the altar's design--some of them making current day readers wonder about their acquisition.  Included, for instance, are a chip of stone from Jericho, one from Mount Sinai, a piece of the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, and a small chunk of Canterbury Cathedral.

Goodhue's plan created a complex of related structures and a medieval cloister.  The Brickbuilder, April 1914 (copyright expired

The massive church was completed in 1914.  Goodhue had worked in the English Perpendicular style on the main building, taking historic liberties by using pointed Gothic windows along the sides.  The often-acerbic critic Montgomery Schuyler, writing in The Brickbuilder, excused him, saying "Mr. Goodhue, as all students of his work know, does not at all aspire to the praise of a purist."  Schuyler gave the architect his highest praise when he concluded "It suffices to note the evident fact that the new church is one of the most interesting examples of ecclesiastical architecture in New York, or for that matter in the United States."

Goodhue departed from the style of the church proper by designing the rectory in neo-Tudor.

Rev. Milo Hudson Gates was considered, according to The Living Church later, "an authority on ecclesiastical architecture."  He later published the Architecture of the Chapel of the Intercession.  The New York Times later noted "In its crypt he caused to be established a columbarium, which was believed to be the first provision made in any church for the ashes of communicants who have been cremated."

The venerable tombstones of Trinity Cemetery provide a backdrop to the church, including that of James John Audubon, directly behind the rectory (bottom).

The charismatic Rev. Milo Gates was involved with the neighborhood youth.  He established classes within the church complex where girls learned domestic skills, like cooking.  And in 1910 he stumbled across the gave of Clement Clarke Moore while wandering through the cemetery.  He later said "When I was a youngster I used to 'speak pieces.'  Especially proficient was I in dashing off 'The Night Before Christmas.'  I was always fond of if, and wondered about the man who wrote it."

Delighted at having found the poet's grave, he led 50 Sunday school children that Christmas morning to decorate Moore's grave.  By the time the new chapel was nearing completion the event had become a tradition.  On Christmas Eve 1913 the Arizona Republican noted "They will leave the new church at 9:30 o'clock, with banners and trumpeters, and will march, singing Christmas carols, to the grave, where they lay their great wreath."

But Gates had a stern, unbending side as well.  He lashed out against Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science Church, in his sermon on March 26, 1916.  Saying she "thought she was writing a Key to the Scriptures," he said she "had not the vaguest idea of what the Scriptures consisted."

The Brickbuilder, April 1914 (copyright expired

And when Dora Russell, the wife of Bertrand Russell, published her book The Right to Be Happy in 1927, Gates took to his pulpit to "assail" her, as worded by The New York Times.  "The trouble with New York is that too many people here have an unfounded pride in their position, said the Rev. Dr. Milo H. Gates yesterday in a sermon attacking Mrs. Bertrand Russell's book...on the ground that it assumes for men and women rights which they do not have," reported the newspaper.

Saying that Mrs. Russell offered "an utterly false and a dangerous solution," he blasted "In the present generation our so-called best families do not own their positions.  They merely chanced to inherit these positions from grandfathers who arrived before the poor immigrant of the present day.  But that gives them no right to be unfair."

Rev. Gates held some convictions which went counter to mainstream church teachings.  He sought to revive the cult of saints among Protestants, and the revival of ancient customs such as the Rogation Days.  He also fervently believed that the Apocrypha be included in the Bible.  The excluded chapters, like the Book of Jasher, were not considered scriptural by the Roman Catholic and Episcopal Churches.  Even Martin Luther had deemed them "not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but are useful and good to read."  Gates strongly disagreed.

He repeatedly brought up the subject in his sermons, including the one on May 2, 1927 when he pressed for restoring the Apocrypha to the Bible.  He no doubt shocked some parishioners when he called the Bible "mutilated" and "a disgrace to Protestantism."

Separating the church from the rectory and related buildings was the cloister, the center of which is seen above The Brickbuilder, April 1914 (copyright expired

Surrounding the cloister garden are peaceful, Gothic style arcades.

Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue died on April 23, 1924.  The New York Times wrote "Considering [the Chapel of the Intercession] his best designed church, the architect requested that he be buried in the Chapel."  Four years later, on Sunday March 24, 1929 a tomb and memorial was unveiled in the sanctuary of the Chapel of the Intercession.  Within it were the architect's ashes.

The memorial, designed by Lee Lawrie, followed the style of his building, taking the form of a medieval church tomb.  The New York Times described "The memorial is in the form of a tomb and bears his recumbent figure...On it is this inscription: 'Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, 1869-1924.  This tomb is the affectionate token of his friends.  His great architectural creations that beautify the land are his monuments."

Some of Goodhue's designs, including Intercession, are depicted in the frieze above the tomb --photo by Bertogandara

Later that year Rev. Gates was appointed Dean of St. John the Divine Cathedral.  Under his leadership the membership of the Chapel of the Intercession had grown to 3,500--more than any other of Trinity's chapels.  He was succeeded as vicar of the Chapel of the Intercession by the Rev. Dr. Frederic S. Fleming.  It was the first of a rather rapid turnover of vicars.  Fleming was made rector of Trinity Church in 1932, replaced at the Chapel of the Intercession by Wallace J. Gardner, who was succeeded by the Rev. S. Tagart Steele, Jr. in 1937.

Through it all the Christmas tradition at Clement Clarke Moore's grave went on, growing ever larger each year.  On December 25, 1931 The Times reported "Upper Broadway traffic halted last evening just after dusk while about 500 men, women and children carrying lanterns marched over 155th Street, after attending services at the Chapel of the Intercession, to enter Trinity Cemetery, where the throng crowded down the sloping paths of the graveyard to pay homage at the graves of Clement C. Moore, author of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas,' and Alfred Tennyson Dickens, son of Charles Dickens."

Rev. Milo Hudson Gates died on November 27, 1939.  Three years later, on June 14, 1942 The Living Church reported "A bronze memorial tablet, marking the graves of the late Very Rev. Dr. Milo Hudson Gates and Mrs. Gates in the Chapel of the Intercession...was dedicated on May 24th, by the vicar of the Intercession, Rev. Dr. S. Tagart Steele, jr.  The memorial, designed by Miss Louise H. Southwick, consists of a circle with a cross patee, surcharged with the Gates coat of arms."

The celebration of the 31st anniversary of the building's consecration on June 9, 1946 had one especially noteworthy feature.  The New York Times reported the service "included the first official ringing in that chapel of a bell cast in 1700 and presented to Trinity Parish in 1704 by the Bishop of London."

When the 50th anniversary of the consecration was held on June 6, 1965, it was in a much changed neighborhood.  From a district of summer estates and then the homes of the well-to-do, Washington Heights held a diverse ethnic and economic population.  The once all-white neighborhood filled with blacks and Hispanics, giving the congregation a highly diverse personality.

The diversity of the congregation is evidenced in this photograph from its website.  via http://www.intercessionnyc.org/

After nearly seven decades as a chapel of Trinity Church, the parish regained its independence in 1976.  For the first time since 1908 it was again the Church of the Intercession.  The magnificent structure, designated a New York City landmark in 1966, was included on the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1980.  Today services are celebrated in both English and Spanish.

non-credited photographs by the author

St. Thomas Church -- Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street

Photo NYPL Collection

Shortly after 6:00 on the morning of August 8, 1905 the housekeeper of the rectory of St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue, Mrs. Sandsbach, discovered a fire raging in the sanctuary of the church. Mrs. Sandsbach ran screaming into the street, alerting policeman Thomas Hewitt who pulled the handle of a nearby firebox.


By 8:00 the Richard Upjohn-designed church, the third building for the congregation, was a smoking ruin. Destroyed were the interiors by John LaFarge, including two important paintings, and sculptures by St. Gaudens.

Within 24 hours plans for a new church were being discussed. In the next day’s New York Times the rector, Reverend Dr. Ernest M. Stires, reported “Well, the people of New York may be quite sure that the congregation of St. Thomas will put up a church worthy in every way of the city and the site. I think I may say it will all be Gothic, and that no pains will be spared to make it of the purest architecture, for, to my mind, there is no style so fitting for divine worship.”

St. Thomas Church was perhaps the wealthiest congregation in the country, sitting on 5th Avenue at 53rd Street among the palatial mansions of New York’s elite like the Vanderbilts and Rockefellers. “One parishioner has already offered $50,000 toward the necessary expenses,” said Stires.

The new church would have risen quickly, given the amount of money donated by the moneyed members; however when in 1906 the San Francisco Earthquake devastated that city Reverand Stires sent the entire building fund to California to assist the victims. Fund-raising had to be started anew.

The congregation met in a temporary wooden structure on the site for five years before construction started on their new edifice. Ralph Adams Cram and Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue, principals in the firm Cram, Goodhue and Ferguson and both esteemed ecclesiastic architects, were given the commission. Their French High Gothic church would rival St. Patrick’s Cathedral a few blocks to the south.

In 1908 The New York Times exclaimed “The new St. Thomas Episcopal Church to be built at Fifth Avenue and Fifty-third Street, to replace the edifice burned two years ago, will outclass in cost and appearance any single Protestant Church in America, that is designed for parish and not cathedral uses…The new church will cost from $800,000 to $1,000,000.”

“The new church…will resemble Westminster Abbey in some particulars,” it said.

Ralph Adams Cram explained “Our prime intention is the construction of a parish church which in its design, its construction, and its decoration should represent, so far as we are able to produce this result, a model of ecclesiastical architecture conceived in the great spirit of the Middle Ages…” He added “Just because of this high ideal, St. Thomas’s Church will be, in all probability, the most expensive church per square foot built thus far in the United States.”

Goodhue and Adams insisted that no steel be used in the construction of the building, using only stone as in their medieval models. The stone was quarried in Kentucky, the interior being made of a “warm golden sandstone” and the exterior “a silvery limestone.” Guastavino tiles would be used for the high vault.

The cornerstone was laid in 1910, sitting squarely atop the two former cornerstones. Construction was not without problems, however. The millionaires’ mansions around the site were shaken daily by dynamite blasts as the foundation was prepared. On September 7, a particularly severe blast sent showers of rocks onto the roofs and conservatories of the houses nearby; one boulder piercing the roof of William A. Kissam’s residence.

“A shower of stones, some as big as paving blocks, fell on some of the best houses in the neighborhood,” reported The New York Times.

The stone that pierced Kissam’s roof “frightened Mrs. Kate Scully, the caretaker, almost out of her wits,” the paper said. “She ran to the street, thinking that the house had been blown up, and continued her dash down the avenue…”

photo by Eric Hunt

The church was completed in 1913 and despite Reverend Stires’ protest that “I wish to especially emphasize the fact that the new church has been planned without any attempt at display,” its proportions were cathedral-like, the nave soaring upwards 95 feet. Visually staggering was the magnificent 80-foot high carved stone reredos, one of the largest in the world, pierced to expose Chartes-like stained glass windows high above the altar.

The breath-taking windows were designed by the English stained glass artist, James Humphries Hogan.

Outside, the bell tower rises 15 stories. The triple-arched entrance way, the immense central rose window and the sumptuous, overall carvings and Gothic ornamentation immediately cast St. Thomas Church as one of the foremost architectural treasures on the Avenue and in New York in general.

In 2007 a painstaking $20 million, 3-year restoration of the windows was initiated. The windows were, one-by-one, dismantled and each of the 9 million small pieces of glass was hand-cleaned and replaced.

St. Thomas's Church survives on a much-change Fifth Avenue.  Gone are the brownstone mansions of 1911, replaced by glass and steel skyscrapers.  The sumptuous beauty of the edifice, however, remains.

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