Church of the Messiah (Manhattan)

Theater Names[1]
1868 drawing of a street scene in front of the altered but recognizable exterior of the 1839 church
728-30 Broadway in 1867
1865Athenaeum (A. T. Stewart, owner)
1865Lucy Rushton’s Theatre
1865(remodeled by James H. Hackett)
1866New York Theatre (Lewis Baker
and Mark Smith, managers)
1867The Worrell Sisters’ New York Theatre
1868New York Theatre
1868The Worrell Sisters’ Theatre
1870The Globe Theatre
1871Nixon’s Amphitheatre
1872The Broadway Theatre
1873Daly’s Fifth Avenue Theatre
(Augustin Daly, manager)
1873Daly’s Broadway Theatre
1874Fox’s Broadway Theatre
1874The Globe Theatre
1876Heller’s Wonder Theatre
1877Wood’s Theatre
1877Neil Bryant’s Opera House
1877National Theatre
1878The Globe Theatre
1879The New York Circus
1879The Broadway Novelty Theatre
1881The New Theatre Comique
(Harrigan and Hart, proprietors)
Photograph of the building in a different alteration, with a few people in front watching the photo being taken
As the Globe Theatre
The Church of the Messiah[2]

Detailed drawing of a “semi-Gothic” style church.

The congregation’s second church.
General information
Architectural style “Semi-Gothic”[3]
Location 728-30 Broadway, at Waverly Place, New York City[4]
Inaugurated 2 May 1839[5]
Destroyed 23 December 1884 by fire[6]
Cost $90,000[7]
The Church of the Messiah

Photograph of a Gothic Revival style church.

The congregation's third church.
Alternative names Community Church of New York (as of 1919)[8]
General information
Architectural style Victorian Romanesque[9]
Location NW corner Park Avenue and 34th Street[10]
Inaugurated 1867[11]
Demolished 1930[12]
Design and construction
Architect Carl Pfeiffer[13]
The Second Congregational Church in New York[14]

Detailed drawing of a Greek Revival style church.

The congregation’s first church.
General information
Architectural style Greek Revival[15]
Location NW corner of Mercer and Prince Streets[16]
Inaugurated Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, 7 December 1826[17]
Destroyed Sunday morning, the 26 November 1837 (burned to ground)[18]
Design and construction
Architect Josiah R. Brady[19]

The Second Congregational Church in New York, organized in 1825, was a Unitarian congregation which had three permanent homes in Manhattan, the second of which became a theater after they left it. In 1919 the congregation became non-denominational and changed its name to Community Church of New York.[20] The same year, its church on 34th Street was damaged by fire.[21] Since 1948 the congregation has been located at 40 East 35th Street, in a sanctuary shared with the Metropolitan Synagogue of New York.[22]

The Church of the Messiah at 728-730 Broadway, near Waverly Place, was dedicated in 1839 and operated as such until 1864. In January 1865 it was sold to department store magnate A. T. Stewart and converted into a theater which subsequently operated under a series of names, ending with The New Theatre Comique. It burned down in 1884.[23]

References

Notes

  1. ↑ Brown, pp. 376-98
  2. ↑ Dewey, p. 29
  3. ↑ Dewey, p. 29
  4. ↑ Dunlap, “Community Church” and Perris, in which the church is mislabeled “Presbyterian.”
  5. ↑ Dewey, p. 29
  6. ↑ Brown, p. 398
  7. ↑ Dewey, p. 29
  8. ↑ NYT-1
  9. ↑ Dunlap, "Community Church"
  10. ↑ Dunlap, Map H [H6]
  11. ↑ Dunlap, "Community Church"
  12. ↑ CCNY
  13. ↑ Dunlap, "Community Church"
  14. ↑ Dewey, p. 28
  15. ↑ Dunlap, "Community Church"
  16. ↑ Dunlap, Map E [E86]
  17. ↑ CCNY
  18. ↑ Dewey, p. 29
  19. ↑ Dunlap, "Community Church"
  20. ↑ NYT-1
  21. ↑ NYT-2
  22. ↑ CCNY
  23. ↑ Greenleaf, pp. 375-6; Dunlap, "Community Church;" Stern, p. 35; Brown, pp. 376-98; MPW; and IBDB

Sources

External links

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Coordinates: 40°43′45.8″N 73°59′35.3″W / 40.729389°N 73.993139°W