St. Cecilia's Church

History and architecture

Saint Cecilia's Church, in the heart of, that section of East Harlem known as "El Barrio," was completed in 1887 according to the designs of the noted architectural firm of Napoleon Le Brun & Sons. Saint Cecilia's Church with the adjoining Saint Cecilia's Convent, both in the Romanesque Revival style, gracefully complement each other and the surrounding area.

Harlem as a community traces its origins back to the first Dutch settlers of 1658 who named it "New Haarlem." From the mid to late 19th century the character of Harlem changed from rural to suburban. By the 1890s the Interboro Rapid Transit Railroad extended its lines to connect Harlem with New York City which gave impetus to the urban expansion and to the development of this area. In the early 1900s Harlem became available to black residents, but East Harlem, containing the largest Italian and Ruissian Jewish communities in New York City as well as an Irish community, regarded itself as a separate district.

East Harlem, from 96th Street to 125th Street and east of Madison Avenue, remained a stable area well into the 1920s when there was an influx of Hispanic nationals from Latin America. These nationals settled around the older Puerto Rican community between Fifth and Lexington Avenues from 100th to 120th Streets known as "El Barrio," "The District," or The Neighborhood."' "El Barrio" consequently spread northward to Black Harlem and southward to Yorkville, replacing all but a few of the old Italian communities which had earlier characterized East Harlem.

Saint Cecilia's Church was one of the first to be established in the area. The Very Reverend Hugh Flattery became the first pastor of the Church of Saint Cecilia in 1873. Shortly thereafter he converted the Old Red House at 105th Street, formerly a resort hotel, into a parochial residence for the use of the church. It soon became necessary to consider building a church; however, in 1879 Flattery died and his dream was to be carried on by his successor the Very Reverend Monsignor William P.

Flannelly. Property on East 106th Street was purchased for the church by Father Flannelly in March 1881, from Addison and Mary Brown for the sum of twenty five thousand eight hundred dollars. A portion of the property was later used for St. Cecilia's Convent. Napoleon Le Brun & Sons were chosen as architects for the church structure. Work did not begin until 1883; the cornerstone was laid on September 9 of that year. In 1884 the congregation held its first services in the new edifice on the fourth Sunday of Epiphany in the basement chapel.

Reverend Michael J. Phelan, known throughout the diocese as "The Builder of Churches, " was designated pastor of Saint Cecilia's parish in 1884 after the untimely death of Father Flannelly. Father Phelan remained pastor for the next thirty-eight years and was responsible for the completion of the church in 1887. The church has been in continuous use over the past ninety-two years with a changing but faithful congregation.