The Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family is a Black Catholic parish church of the

Roman Catholic 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 borough ...

, located at 401 West 125th Street at Morningside Avenue 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 ...

. It is the oldest existing church in Harlem and above 44th Street in Manhattan. On June 28, 2016, it was designated a New York City Landmark.

Parish

The parish was established in 1859 or 1860 for German Catholics. The first priest to minister to the German-speaking Roman Catholic residents of Manhattanville, was the Rev. D. F. Hartmann, assigned by the archdiocese in 1859. Services were initially held in the chapel on the grounds of the Academy of the Sacred Heart. Although the building has remained in one location, street name changes in Harlem have affected the address. The address listed in 1892 was at 125th Street and the corner of 9th Avenue. The parish sponsors a weekly food pantry and clothing bank for the community.

Architecture

Built before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, the

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended to ...

red brick church was built and dedicated in 1860. However, the city Landmarks Preservation Commission interprets the church as an example of the ''Rundbogenstil'' design. "St. Joseph’s was not a revival of Romanesque architecture but a new design based on abstracted and simplified interpretation of the Romanesque."Percival, Marianne s. "Church of St. Joseph of the Holy Family", Landmarks Preservation Commission, Designation List 488 LP-0303, June 28, 2016 Its German style reflects the heritage of the original parishioners, and is also in keeping with the rural nature of the area at the time of construction. Constructed of brick, it has a single bell tower and rounded arched windows. It was enlarged in 1871 and altered in 1889 by the Herter Brothers. As part of the alteration, the window over the entrance became a niche for a statue of St. Joseph holding the infant.

School

The church had a school and convent affiliated with it, which were located in the former Manhattanville Presbyterian Church, a

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

structure directly behind the church. The parish school was among 27 in the Archdiocese of New York closed by Archbishop Dolan on January 11, 2011.

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 ...

"Reconfiguration Committee Recommendations Regarding 'At-Risk' Schools Accepted by Archdiocese of New York" (press release)
(January 11, 2011)(Accessed 7 February 2011)

References

Notes

External links

St. Joseph of the Holy Family Church website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Joseph of the Holy Family Church, New York City 1859 establishments in New York (state) 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United States African-American Roman Catholic churches African-American Roman Catholicism Defunct schools in New York City Former Presbyterian churches in New York City Harlem New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan Religious organizations established in 1859 Roman Catholic churches completed in 1860 Roman Catholic churches in Manhattan Romanesque Revival church buildings in New York City