St. Monica's Church (Manhattan)

Church of St. Monica
Monica RCC 413 E79 jeh.JPG
Photographed in 2008
General information
Architectural style Gothic Revival
Town or city New York, New York
Country United States of America
Construction started 1926 (for school and convent);1955 (for convent)[1]
Cost $120,000(for 1926 school and convent);
$275,000 (for 1955 convent)[1]
Design and construction
Client Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York
Architect Schickel & Ditmars (for church);[2]
Thomas Dunn of 37 West 57th Street (for 1926 school and convent);[1]
Brown-Guenther-Booss of 1860 Broadway (for 1955 convent)[1]

Church of St. Monica is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 413 East 79th Street, Manhattan, New York City. The parish was established in 1879.[3]

Contents

History

The fourth Catholic parish on the Upper East Side, St. Monica's was founded by Fr. John Treanor, pastor of the Church of St. Lawrence O'Toole (now the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola). Fr. James J. Dougherty was appointed the first pastor, and in 1880 he began conducting Mass over a feed store at 404 East 78th Street. The following year, he purchased land for the construction of the church and school. Construction of the first church building was completed in 1883.[4] In 1892, the address was listed as 409 E 79th Street.[5]

The Rev. John J. Boyle served as acting rector at St. Monica's before becoming the founding pastor of St. Luke's Church (Bronx, New York).[6]

Buildings

The current Gothic Revival church building was erected in 1906 to the designs of the esteemed Roman Catholic church-building architectural firm of Schickel & Ditmars.[2]

The Rev. Arthur J. Kenny, rector, had a three- and four-storey brick school and convent with tile roof at 410 East 80th Street, built in 1926 to designs of Thomas Dunn of 37 West 57th Street for $120,000. A three-storey convent at 405-413 East 79th Street was built in 1955 to designs by Brown-Guenther-Booss of 1860 Broadway for $275,000.[1]

Pastors

St. Monica's Parish School

The parish school opened in 1883, operated by the Sisters of Charity of New York. The Sisters of St. Francis assumed operations in 1944. After several years of declining enrollment, however, the school was closed in 1974.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Office for Metropolitan History, "Manhattan NB Database 1900-1986," (Accessed 25 Dec 2010).
  2. ^ a b St. Monica's Church (Manhattan) at the archINFORM database
  3. ^ Dolkart, Andrew S; Postal, Matthew A. (2004) (in English). Guide to New York City Landmarks. New York City Landmarks Preservation Committee. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (Author of Forward) (Third ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. p. 295. 
  4. ^ Parish History, http://www.churchofstmonica.org/Parish%20History.html, retrieved 2010-01-28 
  5. ^ The World Almanac 1892 and Book of Facts (New York: Press Publishing, 1892), p.390.
  6. ^ “Father Boyle was born in New York City, educated at Fordham University, and ordained at St. Joseph's Seminary. His first charge was as assistant at Goshen, then at St. Rose's and St. Joseph's, New York City, and then was acting rector at St. Monica's in New York and at Suffern, until sent to found St. Luke’s. He is assisted by Father Gilmore and Daly, and was appointed by the city authorities chaplain to Riverside Hospital on North Brother Island.” See 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.388.
  7. ^ "Changes in Catholic Clergy: Archbishop Farley Announces a Number of Assignments and Transfers", New York Times, Jun 11, 1904. Retrieved 21 July 2011, Excerpt: "Martin J. Burke. from St. Joseph's to the Church of the Nativity, city; the Roy. Anthony J. Morgan, from the Church of the Guardian Angels to the Mission of ..."

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