Washington Square United Methodist Church - NYC (Photo: John Rust)
 

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Washington Square United Methodist Church

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 had 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 Methodist Episcopal Church - New York City (c.1895)  
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.
               
  Odell Organ, Op. 378 (c.1901) Washington Square United Methodist Church - NYC (Photo: J.H. & C.S. Odell Organs)
   
  Odell Organ, Op. 378 (c.1901) Washington Square United Methodist Church - NYC (Photo: J.H. & C.S. Odell Organs)
   
J.H. & C.S. Odell
New York City – Opus 378 (1901)
Tubular-pneumatic key and stop action
2 manuals, 25 stops, 29 ranks






[From the Odell Organ Company web site May 23, 2005), prior to the organ's removal.]

Odell Organ, Op. 378 (c.1901) Washington Square United Methodist Church - NYC (Photo: J.H. & C.S. Odell Organs)  
   
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.
               
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. According to the American Musical Directory of 1861, the organ had "2 banks keys, 27 stops, 2 octaves pedals" and was "Built by L.U. Stuart, in 1860." Other sources state that the organ had 21 stops and 19 ranks. Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
               
Organ in Sullivan Street Methodist Episcopal Church

George Jardine
New York City (1842)
Mechanical action


Specifications of this organ have not yet been located.
               
Sources:
     American Musical Directory. New York: Thomas Hutchinson, 1861.
     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)

Illusrations:
     J.H. & C.S. Odell Organs web site.
     Nickerson's Illustrated Church, Musical and School Directory of New York and Brooklyn. Exterior.