Madison Square Presbyterian Church was a

Presbyterian church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

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 ...

, located on

Madison Square Park Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. ...

at the southeast corner of East 24th Street and

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 ...

. Construction on the church began in 1853 and was completed in 1854., p.125 It was designed by Richard M. Upjohn, the son of noted architect

Richard Upjohn Richard Upjohn (22 January 1802 – 16 August 1878) was a British-born American architect who emigrated to the United States and became most famous for his Gothic Revival churches. He was partially responsible for launching the movement to su ...

, in the

Gothic Revival architectural style Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

. The congregation's original building was acquired by the

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...

and was demolished in 1909 to make way for the 48-story

Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Tower (colloquially known as the Met Life Tower and also as the South Building) is a skyscraper occupying a full block in the Flatiron District of Manhattan in New York City. The building is composed of ...

. In exchange, the church received a by plot of land across 24th Street that became the site for

Stanford White Stanford White (November 9, 1853 – June 25, 1906) was an American architect. He was also a partner in the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, one of the most significant Beaux-Arts firms. He designed many houses for the rich, in additio ...

's Madison Square Presbyterian Church. The congregation had been founded by William Adams in 1853 and served as the church's pastor until 1873, when he left to take the position as president of the

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

. Parkhurst, Charles Henry
"A brief history of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church and its activities"
1906. Accessed November 17, 2010. Funeral services for Adams were held at the church on September 3, 1880, in what was described as "a fitting tribute to a man who was recognized as the most eminent Presbyterian minister in America". His coffin was carried into the sanctuary by eight students from the Union Theological Seminary. The cornerstone for the church was laid in ceremonies held on July 12, 1853, led by Rev. Adams. Edward Huntting Rudd was baptized there and later served as assistant pastor. Reports had reached the leaders of the congregation in the 1890s that Metropolitan Life was interested in acquiring the site of the church so that it could consolidate its operations in the block bounded by 23rd Street, 24th Street, Madison Avenue and

Park Avenue South Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Avenu ...

(then known as Fourth Avenue). The elders of the church agreed that they did not want to move the congregation further uptown, but would be willing to sell the site if an appropriate location could be found near the existing church. As the years progressed, the church was increasingly affected by the construction of new office space by Metropolitan Life and became more willing to reach a compromise with their corporate neighbor. Representatives of Metropolitan Life contacted the church in May 1902 with an offer to make a lot across 24th Street, on the northeast corner of Madison Avenue, as a replacement for the original site, and an agreement was reached with the insurer later that year in which the company paid the church $325,000 that would be used towards the construction of a new church. Once the new church was completed the old building was demolished and became the site of the

, a 48-story building completed in 1909,Staff
"RAZE PARKHURST CHURCH.; Famous Piece of Architecture Making Way for Office Building."
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', May 6, 1919. Accessed November 16, 2010. which was the world's tallest building for three years, until 1913, when it was surpassed by the

Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building is an early skyscraper, early American skyscraper designed by architect Cass Gilbert located at 233 Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the Tribeca neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was the tallest building in ...

."Met Life Tower Named A New York Landmark"
''

'', June 14, 1989. p. B4

References

;Notes {{DEFAULTSORT:Madison Square Presbyterian Church (New York City) Former churches in New York City Churches completed in 1854 19th-century Presbyterian church buildings in the United States Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Closed churches in New York City Demolished churches in New York City Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Former Presbyterian churches in New York City Presbyterian churches in New York City Richard Michell Upjohn church buildings Buildings and structures demolished in 1909 1854 establishments in New York (state)

See also

References