St. Gabriel Church (Manhattan)

The Church of St. Gabriel was a parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 310 East 37th Street in Murray Hill, Manhattan, New York City,[1] from 1865 to 1939.

The Church of St. Gabriel
The interior of St. Gabriel's around 1914
General information
Architectural styleGothic Revival
Town or cityManhattan, New York
CountryUnited States
Construction started1864
Completed1865
DemolishedMay 1939
ClientRoman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
Technical details
Structural systemMasonry
Design and construction
Architect(s)Henry Engelbert

History

St. Gabriel's grew out of the Church of St. John the Evangelist on 55th Street. The parish was formed in 1859.[2] Prior to the construction of the church, services were held in a two–story brick building at 306 East 36th Street. The first rector was Rev. William H. Clowry.

Land for the church was donated by Henry J. Anderson, Professor of Mathematics at Columbia College. A parochial school, located at 311 East 36th Street, was organized in 1860. The first floor of the boys school was the chapel, where Sunday Masses for the 1,500-member congregation were held.[3] St. Gabriel's Church was dedicated on November 12, 1865, by Archbishop John McCloskey. Two of St. Gabriel's priests at the turn of the century later served as Cardinal Archbishop of New York, John Murphy Farley and Patrick Joseph Hayes.[4]

St. Gabriel's Select School (for girls) at 229 East 36th Street was conducted by the Sisters of Charity of Mount Saint Vincent. The Brothers of the Christian Schools ran the boys school.[3]

The parish closed in 1939 to make way for the Queens–Midtown Tunnel linking Manhattan to Queens. The congregation was divided between the Church of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary and St. Agnes Church. The church building was demolished May 1939. The altar, pews and statues were sent to the newly constructed St. Gabriel's Church in Riverdale, Bronx.

The sacramental records for the now-closed Church of St. Gabriel were transferred to nearby St. Stephen's Church. Early records for the parish school are at the College of Mount Saint Vincent, Riverdale. St. Vartan Park, located between 35th and 36th Streets, was formerly known as St. Gabriel's Park before it was renamed in 1978 for the St. Vartan Armenian Cathedral nearby on Second Avenue.

Architecture

Construction of a church building was delayed because of the American Civil War. The building was designed by architect Henry Engelbert in the Gothic Revival-style. The cornerstone was laid in 1864. The structure was brick with a brownstone façade and brownstone accents. The brownstone was quarried in Belleville, New Jersey. The groined ceiling rested on eighteen columns. The chancel featured a large painting of the Annunciation, by artist Giuseppe Mazzolini. Two side altars were dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph, respectively.

References
  1. The World Almanac. New York: Press Publishing. 1892. p. 390.
  2. 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.. (New York: The Catholic Editing Company, 1914), p. 327.
  3. Shea, John Gilmary, ed. (1878). The Catholic Churches of New York City. New York: Lawrence G. Goulding & Co. p. 312. OCLC 2524004.
  4. "Hayes, Patrick Joseph". Dictionary of American Biography, Supplement #2. p. 293. Archived from the original on July 10, 2011 – via Genealogy.com.

40°44′46.5″N 73°58′26″W

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