St. Paul the Apostle Church | |
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October 2014
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40°46′11″N 73°59′7″W / 40.76972°N 73.98528°WCoordinates: 40°46′11″N 73°59′7″W / 40.76972°N 73.98528°W | |
Location | 8-10 Columbus Avenue Manhattan, New York City), New York |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Roman Catholic |
History | |
Founded | 1858 (parish) 1859 (original church & rectory) 1876 (current church) |
Dedicated | January 25, 1885 |
Architecture | |
Status |
Parish church Mother church of the Paulist Fathers |
Functional status | Active |
Heritage designation |
NRHP NYC Landmark |
Years built | 1876-1884 |
Administration | |
Archdiocese | New York |
Clergy | |
Pastor(s) | Fr. Gilbert Martinez, CSP |
Church of St. Paul the Apostle
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Architect | Jeremiah O'Rourke and George Deshon |
Architectural style | Late Gothic Revival |
NRHP reference # | 91001723 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | December 5, 1991 |
Designated NYCL | June 25, 2013 |
The Church of St. Paul the Apostle is a Roman Catholic church located at 8-10 Columbus Avenue on the corner of West 60th Street, in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. It is the mother church of the Paulist Fathers, the first order of Roman Catholic priests founded in the United States.
The parish was founded in 1858, and their original church was a simple brick structure built on part of the current lot, but the congregation soon outgrew it.
A new Late Victorian Gothic Revival-style church was built between 1876 and 1884 designed by Jeremiah O'Rourke and the Rev. George Deshon, a military engineer trained at West Point, who took over the project six years into construction when O'Rourke died, and probably simplified the design. Rev Isaac Thomas Hecker, who founded the Paulist Fathers, may have had a hand in its design as well, using the thirteenth-century Cathedral of Santa Croce, Florence as a model. The building utilized Tarrytown grey granite stones salvaged from the Croton Aqueduct along with stones from other structures in Manhattan.
The new building was dedicated on January 25, 1885, but was still not complete at that time: the 114-foot (35 m) towers had yet to reach their final height, and much of the interior declarations were still to be installed.
The church is known for its ecclesiastical art, and contains interior elements designed between 1887-1890 by Stanford White and many large decorated side chapels. Later stained glass windows were added by John LaFarge. Other artists who worked within include Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Frederick MacMonnies, and Bertram Goodhue, who is responsible for the floor mosaics. White and Goodhue also offered advice on design elements. Lumen Martin Winter's Angel of the Resurrection adorns Hecker's sarcophagus, located in the northeast corner of the nave. Other Paulist Fathers are entombed in crypt off a chapel on the lower level of the church.