St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, also known as St. Matthew's Episcopal Church and Close, is a historic

Episcopal Episcopal may refer to: *Of or relating to a bishop, an overseer in the Christian church *Episcopate, the see of a bishop – a diocese *Episcopal Church (disambiguation), any church with "Episcopal" in its name ** Episcopal Church (United States ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

at 85-45 96th Street in

Woodhaven, Queens Woodhaven is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bordered on the north by Park Lane South and Forest Park, on the east by Richmond Hill, on the south by Ozone Park and Atlantic Avenue, an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Located behind the church is the

Wyckoff-Snediker Family Cemetery Wyckoff-Snediker Family Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in the Woodhaven section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is located behind St. Matthew's Episcopal Church which closed in 2011. All Saints Congregation undertook reno ...

History

The parish hall dates to 1907. The church was built between 1926 and 1927 in the

Late Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style, designed by the architect Robert F. Schirmer. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 2001.

The original building(1901-1928) had an organ of an unknown brand. The congregation had moved from a storefront on 91st street and Jamaica avenue in 1901 to the small wooden church on 96th street. The first permanent building was the parish hall, which was completed in 1907. The second building was a permanent stone structure which was designed in the Gothic Revival style by Architect Henry Bereau and was completed in 1928. The cornerstone was laid the previous March; and the first service was held December 2, 1928, which is the genesis of the church. The first organ was by Henry Pilcher's Sons, Op. 1425 (1928), an Electro-Pneumatic with 11 ranks and two manuals. It was replaced in 1988 by the

Reuter Organ Company Reuter Organ Company is a pipe organ builder located in Lawrence, Kansas. History Establishment The Reuter Organ Company was founded in 1917 by A.C. Reuter, Earl Schwarz and Henry Jost as the Reuter-Schwarz Organ Company in Trenton, Illino ...

of Lawrence, Kan., with Op. 2103, an Electro-Pneumatic with 10 ranks, 2 manuals and 35 stops.

Cemetery

In the 1960s, the church bought the Wyckoff-Snediker Family Cemetery which was behind the church buildings. It has about 160 gravestones from the 18th and 19th century. The church and cemetery were both placed on the

in 2001.

All Saints

St. Matthew's closed on May 22, 2011. In October 2013, the congregation of All Saints Episcopal Church in Richmond Hill moved into the St. Matthew's church building and began renovating it and the historic cemetery in back. It is now called All Saints Church. File:St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) 10.jpg, Church Rectory File:St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) 09.jpg, South side File:St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) 13.jpg, Stained glass diorama File:St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) 15.jpg, All Saints Episcopal Church sign File:St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) 07.jpg, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) File:St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) 05.jpg, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) File:St. Matthew's Episcopal Church (Queens) 04.jpg, South door

References

Episcopal church buildings in New York City Properties of religious function on the National Register of Historic Places in Queens, New York Gothic Revival church buildings in New York City Churches completed in 1928 20th-century Episcopal church buildings Churches in Queens, New York Woodhaven, Queens {{NewYork-Anglican-church-stub