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Calvary Presbyterian Church
909 Castleton Avenue at Bement Avenue
West New Brighton, Staten Island, N.Y. 10310
Organ Specifications:
Present building (since 1894)
► II/9 M.P. Möller, Op. 8116 (1950)
• II/18s Hook & Hastings Co., Op. 1592 (1894)
First building (1872-burned 1892)
• unknown |
Calvary Presbyterian Church was organized on November 17, 1872, by thirty-five persons, most of whom had previously been members of the Dutch Reformed Church of Port Richmond. The society occupied a chapel that had been erected at the corner of Castleton and Bement Avenues during the summer of 1872, for use by a Sunday-school that had been organized in May of that year. In September 1874, the plain wooden chapel was doubled in size so that it could accomodate about 500 persons. On the evening of April 17, 1892, arsonists set fires in the area, and the chapel burned to the ground.
Plans for a new church began immediately after the fire, involving everyone who had been connected with the church and Sunday-school. Stephenson & Greene of New York designed a building that combined Romanesque and Tudor Revival styles. The new church was opened on March 4, 1894. Total cost of the building, with its furnishings, was $25,000. The New York Times described the new church on March 4, 1894:
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The walls up to the window sills are built of overburned brick laid in brown mortar and trimmed with Newark brownstone. The upper part of the building is of wood, covered with plaster slabs and cemented with Portland cement. The half-timber work is of Georgia hard pine stained a warm brown. The roof is covered with shingles stained a tile red.
The principal floor has two entrances from Castleton Avenue, one through the tower and the other through a framed timber porch and a double vestibule. Both lead to the auditorium, which is 67 feet long and 72 feet wide across the transepts and will accomodate 450 persons, 340 in the pews and 110 in chairs in the east transept, which is intended for children from an orphan home. This transept has sideways rolling partitions, so that it can be shut off from the auditorium and used for small meetings during the week. It has a large fireplace, built of Pompeian brick. The roof of the auditorium is cruciform and is carried by heavy Georgia pine trusses, worked with curved braces and octagonal tie beams. The roof is exposed on the interior all the way up to the ridge, and is celled up on the slope with narrow boarding of North Carolina pine. |
About 1952, the exterior of the church was altered when half-timbering was removed to facilitate the installation of stained glass windows. Three large windows by Louis Comfort Tiffany Studios were salvaged from hurricane-damaged Randall Memorial Chapel at Sailors' Snug Harbor, along with smaller images of saints, and incorporated into the church by artist Thomas Harland. Three stained glass windows created by Stephen Alexander were added to the tower entrance vestibule. The adjacent parish house was a later addition. In 2002, Calvary Presbyterian Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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M.P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 8116 (1950)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals, 35 registers, 16 stops, 9 ranks
In 1950, a new two-manual organ was built by M.P. Möller of Hagerstown, Md. The organ was fully enclosed and installed in two chambers, one on either side of the chancel. Both chambers had openings into the chancel and nave that were covered by elaborate plaster grills. Pipecounts given below are suggested, based on similar Möller organs of that era. |
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Great Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed
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8 |
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Open Diapason |
73 |
4 |
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Octave |
73 |
8 |
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Hohlflute |
73 |
4 |
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Dulciana |
— |
8 |
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Dulciana |
73 |
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Chimes |
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Swell Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes, enclosed
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16 |
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Bourdon [unit] |
97 |
4 |
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Gedeckt |
— |
8 |
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Geigen Principal |
73 |
2 2/3 |
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Nazard |
— |
8 |
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Gedeckt |
— |
2 |
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Flautino |
— |
8 |
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Salicional |
73 |
8 |
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Trumpet |
73 |
8 |
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Voix Celeste [TC] |
61 |
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Tremolo |
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Pedal Organ – 32 notes, enclosed with Great
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16 |
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Bourdon [unit] |
44 |
8 |
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Bourdon |
— |
16 |
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Lieblich Gedeckt |
SW |
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Couplers
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Great to Pedal 8' |
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Great 4' |
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Swell to Pedal 8', 4' |
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Swell 16', 4', Unison Off |
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Swell to Great 16', 8', 4' |
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Pedal Movements
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Balanced Great Pedal |
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Balanced Swell Pedal |
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Crescendo Pedal |
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Hook & Hastings
Boston, Mass. – 1592 (1894)
Mechanical action
2 manuals, 18 stops
The original organ in the present church was built in 1894 by Hook & Hastings of Boston, and was located at one side of the pulpit area. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located. |
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Sources:
Alexander, Stephen R. Specifications of M.P. Möller organ, Op. 8116 (1950).
Morris, Ira K. Morris's Memorial History of Staten Island, New York, Vol II. West New Brighton, Staten Island: pub. by the author, 1900.
National Register of Historic Places web site: http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com
"To Worship In A New Church," The New York Times (Mar. 4, 1894).
Illustrations:
Google.com. Exterior.
The New York Times (Mar. 4, 1894). Drawing of church. |
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