St. James' Episcopal Church

861 Madison Avenue | also 865 Madison Avenue, 29 East 71st Street | Upper East Side | built 1924

Open on the map7 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

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.

  1. 1885

    R. H. Robertson's Romanesque Revival church rises at Madison and 71st Street

    St. James' parish, which began with a wooden chapel built in 1809-10 and later moved twice, starts a larger church at Madison Avenue and 71st Street in 1884. Architect R. H. Robertson works in Romanesque Revival style, combining brownstone, granite, terra cotta and tiled shingles, and puts the entrance down the block so future neighbors cannot block the chancel windows. The church is completed in 1885, though its stubby corner tower is never finished.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1924

    Ralph Adams Cram remodels the church in Gothic style

    In 1924 the parish asks Ralph Adams Cram, well known for his Gothic designs, to remodel the outdated church. He takes out Robertson's towers and round arches, though the squat corner tower stays, and he reorients the sanctuary with three entrance openings on Madison Avenue beneath a large rose window over the central door. In 1926 he adds a Gothic belfry to the corner tower.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1950

    Structural trouble forces a new steeple nicknamed the 'tin can'

    Structural problems with the Gothic tower appear in the 1940s and force its removal. Architect Richard Kimball designs a replacement that is completed in 1950. The modernistic steeple is dubbed the 'tin can', and after a 1999 restoration it is regarded as a familiar if quirky part of the church.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1966

    A 15-minute funeral for Montgomery Clift draws 150 guests, among them Lauren Bacall and Frank Sinatra

    After the actor Montgomery Clift died of a heart attack on July 23, 1966, his funeral was held at St. James' Church on Madison Avenue. It lasted 15 minutes and drew 150 guests, among them Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra and Nancy Walker. He was buried in the Quaker cemetery in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Roddy McDowall, Judy Garland, Myrna Loy and Lew Wasserman sent flowers, as did Elizabeth Taylor, who was then in Rome.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1981

    The Rev. William Smyth helps found a neighborhood shelter coalition and the church opens a soup kitchen

    In 1981 the Rev. William E. Smyth grew alarmed at the number of homeless people sleeping on church doorsteps, his own included. He helped form the Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter with other churches, synagogues and institutions, and at about that time the church started a soup kitchen. Well-dressed neighbors often saw a line of up to 60 men waiting for a hot lunch.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  6. 1996

    Brenda Husson becomes the first woman to lead a parish of St. James' size in the diocese

    St. James' called the Rev. Brenda G. Husson as rector in 1996, making her the first woman selected to head so large and prominent a parish in the diocese. A large private grant under her leadership created the Partners in Mission program, which supports links with the Anglican Diocese of Southern Malawi and three Episcopal parishes in Haiti. She retired in 2023 after 27 years.

    “In 1996 St. James' called as rector the Rev. Brenda G. Husson, the first woman chosen to lead a parish of such size and prominence in the diocese.”

    Source: Wikipedia

  7. 1999

    A restoration begins, and the 'tin can' steeple is accepted as the parish's own

    In 1999 architect Lee Harris Pomeroy began a restoration of St. James'. The mid-century steeple had by then stood for about half a century, and was an out-of-place but familiar part of the building. The rector, Brenda Husson, reportedly said that everyone knows it does not fit architecturally, but it is the church's steeple.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

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