click on images to enlarge Washington Square United Methodist 135 West Fourth Street New York, N.Y. 10014 Organ Specifications: 135 West Fourth Street (1860-2005) ► II/29 J.H. & C.S. Odell, Op. 378 (1901) • II/19 Ferris & Stuart (1861) 149 Sullivan Street (1842-1860) • George Jardine (1842) Washington Square United Methodist Church has a long history, having emerged from the Sullivan Street Methodist Episcopal Church, a reorganized Episcopal group organized in 1842. After the congregation moved to West Fourth Street into a Romanesque Revival building designed by Charles Hadden and built between 1859-60, the name was changed to Washington Square Methodist Episcopal church. The old church, located at 149 Sullivan Street near Prince Street, was then sold to the Church of St. Anthony of Padua. In 1893, a merger took place with Asbury Methodist Episcopal Church, which was located across Washington Square.   Washington Square Church (1895)   Washington Square Church was known as the "Peace Church" due to its antiwar activism during the Vietnam War. The congregation had long been welcoming to gays and lesbians in New York, and was the site of the Harvey Milk School of lesbian and gay youth. The Rev. Paul M. Abels was the first openly gay minister in a major Christian denomination, serving as pastor from from 1973-1984. In November 2004, after 144 years on West Fourth Street, the congregation sold its building to a real estate developer, and the building was transformed into luxury apartments. In the summer of 2005, three United Methodist congregations — Washington Square, Metropolitan-Duane and Church of All Nations — merged to form the Church of the Village; the combined congregations meet in the former Metropolitan-Duane United Methodist Church.                 J.H. & C.S. Odell New York City – Opus 378 (1901) Tubular-pneumatic key and stop action 2 manuals, 25 stops, 29 ranks [Taken from the Odell Organ Company website on 23 May 2005: http://www.odellorgans.com] The instrument is in extremely good physical condition, and to our knowledge is the only extant Odell organ with tubular pneumatic action. By contrast, most surviving Odell instruments originally built with tubular pneumatic action were electrified and fitted with modern consoles. The manual wind chests are pneumatically-controlled slider chests, with pneumatically-controlled stop sliders. The sole alteration was replacement of the original flat pedal board with a radiating and concave pedalboard. This work was done by our firm in 1957. The organ has had limited restorative work done but is otherwise unaltered. The instrument would require restoration. Present access to the church sanctuary is limited and the organ is not currently playable. Arrangements can be made to see the instrument. The developer is willing to sell organ to any candidate church for a very modest sum on the proviso that the instrument be reasonably preserved.                 Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes 16   Open Diapason 61 4   Harmonic Flute 61 8   Gamba 61 2 2/3   Octave Quint 61 8   Dulciana 61 2   Super Octave 61 8   Dopple Flute [wood] 61   Mixture III ranks 183 4   Octave 61 8   Trumpet 61             Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed 16   Bourdon [wood, div. slider] 61 4   Flauto Traverso 61 8   Open Diapason 61 4   Violina 61 8   Salicional 61 2   Flageolet [conical] 61 8   Vox Celestis  [TC] 49   Cornet III ranks 183 8   Aeoline 61 8   Orchestral Oboe 61 8   Stopped Diapason 61 8   Vox Humana 61             Pedal Organ – 30 notes 16   Open Diapason 30 8   Violoncello 30 16   Bourdon 30                       Mechanical Accessories     Great to Pedal [reversible]       Pedal Organ Forte       Swell to Pedal       Pedal Organ Piano       Swell to Great [reversible]       Tremulant       Swell to Great 4'             Four piston combinations on Great           Four piston combinations on Swell                       Ferris & Stuart New York City (1861) Mechanical action 2 manuals, 21 stops, 19 ranks The original organ in the new Washington Square Methodist Church was built by the Ferris & Stuart company of New York City, and included a pedal with two octaves. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.                 Organ in Sullivan Street Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 149 Sullivan Street: George Jardine New York City (1842) Mechanical action Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.                 Sources:      Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.      Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.      Nickerson's Illustrated Church, Musical and School Directory of New York and Brooklyn. New York: Nickerson & Young, 1895.      J.H. & C.S. Odell Organs web site: http://www.odellorgans.com      Washington Square United Methodist Church web site: (no longer active) Photos:      J.H. & C.S. Odell Organs web site: http://www.odellorgans.com      Nickerson's Illustrated Church, Musical and School Directory of New York and Brooklyn: exterior.                 | NYC AGO Home Page | Back to NYC Organ Project List |