Schickel & Ditmars

Schi­ckel & Dit­mars was an architectural firm in New York City, active from 1885 until the early 1900s during the city's gilded age. It was responsible for many fine churches, re­si­den­ces, and busi­ness buil­dings. J. William Schickel (1850–1907) formed the firm in 1885 as William Schickel & Company, in association with Isaac E. Ditmars (1850–1934) and Hugo Kafka (1843–1913). The firm's name changed to Schickel and Ditmars in 1895, and continued under the direction of Ditmars after Schikel's death in 1907. The firm "enjoyed considerable patronage from German-American clients" and produced a large number of works for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York.^[1] The firm "focused primarily, although not exclusively, on preparing designs for Roman Catholic churches and institutional buildings," particularly Roman Catholic churches for German-American parishes.^[2] The firm's address was listed at 111 Fifth Avenue, New York City.

Noteworthy structures

Churches and Ecclesiastical Projects:

• Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Boston, (in association with Edward Welby Pugin)
• St. Mo­nica's Roman Catholic Church, New York City ^[3]

• St. Jo­seph's Roman Catholic Church, New York City ^[3]
• St. Joseph's Seminary, Dunwoodie (1896), 201 Seminary Avenue, Yonkers, New York^[2]
• The Church of the Ascension (RC) (1896-1897), 221 West 107th Street, Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York City
• St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church, Rochester, New York (1887) Demolished due to fire
• St. Liborius Roman Catholic Church, St. Louis, Missouri (1889) Demolished ^[4]
• St. Louis Roman Catholic Church, 780-790 Main Street, Buffalo, New York (1889) ^[5]
• St. Igna­tius of Lo­yola, 1898
• St. Vincent's Hospital, Manhattan (1900) ^[2]
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity (1902), Central Park West, NW corner of 65th Street, a church with rectory built for $125,000.^[6]

• St. Ignatius' School (1907), 46-50 E 84th Street, built for the Church of St. Ignatius for $150,000.^[6]
• 523-531 E 86th Street (1907), a 5-6-story brick stone dwelling with chapel, built for $125,000 for the Sisters of Misericorde.
• Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in Newark, New Jersey, "following the dismissal of its original architect Jeremiah O'Rourke in 1910."^[2]

Office Buildings:

• The Staats-Zeitung Buil­ding ^[3], New York City, New York
• The Catholic Club, New York City, New York
• Eleventh Avenue and 25th Street(?), New York City, New York (1900), a four-story and basement brick factory, built for Conley Foil Co. for $165,000.^[6]
• The German Hospital, New York City, New York (1900), SW corner of 77th Street and Lexington Avenue, a five-story and basement brick hospital, built for the German Hospital for $120,000.^[6]
• The Johnson Building, New York City, New York (1902-3), 1166-1172 Broadway, Midtown, New York City, a 12-story stone front office building with stores, built for Caroline H Johnston, Stutgart, Germany, attorney, and Frederick A Constable of 9 E 83rd St for $500,000.^[5][6]
• 38 West 21st Street, New York City, New York (1908) ^[5]

Residences:

• The Leonard and Annie Weiderer House (1887–1888), 387 St. Paul's Avenue, Staten Island, New York^[7]
• The Tho­mas F. Ryan Residence ^[3]
• The John D. Crim­m­ins, Esq., Residence ^[3]
• The Isaac Stern Residence, 858 5th Ave., New York City, New York (1900) ^[3]
• The Louis Stern Residence, 993 5th Ave., New York City, New York (1900)
• The Constable Building, New York City, New York

See also

The firm's founding associates: William Shickel (1850–1907), Isaac Ditmars (1850–1934), and Hugo Kafka (1843–1913).

References

• Dunlap, David W. From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan's Houses of Worship. New York: Columbia University Press, 2004.
• St. Ignatius Loyola, A Pictorial History and Walking Guide of New York City’s Church of St. Ignatius Loyola, 1999; Photos by Laurie Lambrecht