The Church of All Saints is a historic former

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church in the

Archdiocese of New York The Archdiocese of New York ( la, Archidiœcesis Neo-Eboracensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in the State of New York. It encompasses the boroug ...

, located at 47 East 129th Street, at the corner of

Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...

in the

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Built from 1883 to 1886 p.536 and designed by architects Renwick, Aspinwall and Russell – but attributed by historian Michael Henry Adams directly to

James Renwick, Jr. James Renwick Jr. (born November 11, 1818, Bloomingdale, in Upper Manhattan, New York City – June 23, 1895, New York City) was an American architect in the 19th century. ''The Encyclopedia of American Architecture'' calls him "one of the most ...

, p.11 – the church complex includes a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

house (1886–89) as well as a school (1902) designed by Renwick's nephew, William W. Renwick. The complex was designated a

New York City landmark The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

by the

New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...

in January 2007. On May 8, 2015, the parish was merged with that of

St. Charles Borromeo Charles Borromeo ( it, Carlo Borromeo; la, Carolus Borromeus; 2 October 1538 – 3 November 1584) was the Archdiocese of Milan, Archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584 and a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Catholic Church. He was a lead ...

, and on June 30, 2017, the church was deconsecrated. On January 23, 2021, the

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

reported that the complex is to be sold, and a final sale at $11M was announced by Fr Greg Chisholm, SJ on April 1.

History

The parish was established in October 1879, under the supervision of

the Rev. The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly ...

(later

Monsignor Monsignor (; it, monsignore ) is an honorific form of address or title for certain male clergy members, usually members of the Roman Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" ca ...

) James W. Power, a native of Ireland, who was its first

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

.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. 309. The parish was originally intended for the neighborhood's Irish immigrants. As the neighborhood changed, the parish became predominantly African American and Nigerian. It was last staffed by the

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...

Friars.

Building

All Saints is known as the "St. Patrick's of Harlem" because of its size and design, the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

, or alternatively

Venetian Gothic Venetian Gothic is the particular form of Italian Gothic architecture typical of Venice, originating in local building requirements, with some influence from Byzantine architecture, and some from Islamic architecture, reflecting Venice's trading ...

, brick church with terracotta trimming was dedicated in 1893. The design is festooned with rose windows in the clerestory and a prominent bell tower. "The vaulted interior is also rich in details, including comfortable hand-carved pews, murals and stained glass."

School

The parish school was built by Power soon after the church, and was initially run by the Christian Brothers of Ireland, who were brought by him to educate the children of Irish immigrants, and the

Sisters of Charity of New York The Sisters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul of New York, most often known as the Sisters of Charity of New York, is a religious congregation of sisters in the Catholic Church whose primary missions are education and nursing and who are dedicated ...

. The school's enrollment in its early years reached almost 2,000 students, mostly girls. Within the parish, the Sisters also operated All Saints Academy, which taught 120 high school students, and the Brothers operated All Hallows Collegiate Institute for boys. Additionally, a Home for Working Girls was run by the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart. Welte-Tripp Op

All Saints School was among 27 schools closed by Archbishop Dolan in the

on 11 January 2011.

Organ

American organ builder Frank Roosevelt of

Roosevelt Organ Works Roosevelt Organ Works was an American manufacturer of pipe organs. It was founded by Hilborne Roosevelt (1849–1886) and his younger brother, Frank Roosevelt (1862–1895), in 1872. It operated in New York City, with branches in Baltimore and Ph ...

built the company's last organ (Op. 525) for All Saints in 1892. In 1931, Welte-Tripp Organ Corp. electrified and enlarged the organ, adding a solo division in the triforium and a new console (in addition to various tonal modifications). In February 2021 the organ was acquired by St. Paul the Apostle Church.

References

Notes

External links

Archived Official Home Page, The Roman Catholic Church of All Saints, Archdiocese of New York
{{DEFAULTSORT:All Saints RC Church (New York City) Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Venetian Gothic architecture in the United States Irish-American culture in New York City Religious organizations established in 1879 Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Defunct schools in New York City Roman Catholic elementary schools in Manhattan Churches in Harlem Private middle schools in Manhattan African-American Roman Catholicism African-American Roman Catholic churches 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States