St. Raymond's Church
1759 Castle Hill Avenue | Parkchester | built 1932
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1845
The first St. Raymond's Church is dedicated on the feast of its patron saint
In 1842 Bishop John Hughes bought the acre where the present church stands and turned an old wooden barn there into a temporary chapel. Fr. Felix Vilanis, superior at St. John's College in Fordham, then built the parish's first church, an earlier building than today's, and had it dedicated on August 31, 1845, the feast of St. Raymond Nonnatus. After the Mass, Hughes blessed a cemetery laid out beside it.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1875
Rev. I. A. Kensella's pastorate ends, and his will leaves money toward a new church
Rev. I. A. Kensella led the parish from July 14, 1857, until January 6, 1875. His will set aside $1,000 for each year he had served as pastor, around $18,000 in all, to pay for building a new church. The original church eventually grew so crowded that many parishioners had to stand through Mass.
“…who in his will left $1000 for every year he was pastor of this church for the erection of a new church…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1898
The Byzantine Revival church designed by George H. Streeton is dedicated
Ground was broken on August 4, 1897, for a larger church to replace the overcrowded original. Its architect, George H. Streeton of Brooklyn, was also responsible for St. Raphael's Church in Manhattan and Brooklyn's Cathedral Basilica of St. James. The new St. Raymond's, in the Byzantine Revival style, was dedicated on October 23, 1898.
“On August 4, 1897, ground was broken for the new Church, designed in the Byzantine Revival-style.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1932
A marble main altar replaces the church's original wooden one
In 1932 St. Raymond's replaced its old wooden main altar with a new one made of marble. The change came 34 years after the dedication of the present Byzantine Revival church, designed by the Brooklyn architect George H. Streeton.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- St. Raymond's Church (Bronx)Wikipedia
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