Brooklyn based Patrick Keely (1816-1896) was perhaps the most prolific church architect in US history. He built quite a number in his hometown. I've perambulated pass them a couple of times on connect-the-dots hikes but not for some time now, the last being March, 2012. Perhaps time for a reprise (with some differences of course).
Anyway, in January, 2012 I wandered about Brooklyn to see how Patrick's dots were faring. Here is some of what I saw.
First to Williamsburg to see if St. Mary Immaculate Conception, which I had heard might have been demolished, still existed (my first Keely walk was in 2009). On Maujer Street and called by some "St. Mary Maujer". It did still exist, barely. Not sure what we would find in 2014. Simple and unpretentious, I believe it is the oldest Keely church remaining in NYC. It was constructed in 1853, early in Keely's career - his first church (in Williamsburg, demolished) was 1847. I had thought this one might have been his oldest extant anywhere, but I have found at least one older in Newport, RI.
On to Bedford-Stuyvesant for Keely's 1870 St. John the Baptist church. I had left it out of the 2009 walk mainly because I found out about it too late to fit it in. Probably his largest NYC church, the AIA Guide describes it as "a vigorous Renaissance Revival hulk". The term hulk certainly applies. Too bad about the boarded up windows but I suppose it stabilizes the structure as an alternative to demolition where restoration money is lacking. The parish was still active - they had a website - but I don't know what use they make of the church itself. For its bulk alone, and to connect other interesting dots, it was included in the 2012 walk.
Next I walked past the Fort Greene home where Keely died in 1896. Its not that I have an abiding interest in Patrick Keely or ecclesiastical architecture for that matter. Irish-born, Brooklyn-based, and untrained formally in architecture, Keely is said to have built some 600 (no one knows for sure) mostly but not exclusively Catholic churches across eastern North America, riding the great waves of 19th century immigration - much of it Catholic (Irish, Italians, Poles, etc.). So things associated with his life, his churches mainly, make for great dots to connect in a peripatetic perambulation across the Brooklyn neighborhoods built by those immigrants many of whom went to his churches.
But I would also like to put in a good word for Patrick. He is often dismissed as a hack by architectural historians, due in part to his lack of formal training in the profession (although his dad in Ireland may have been an architect, or at least was a builder). Indeed some of his churches are pretty dull. I take the more nuanced view of Francis Morrone ("The Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn", and many others) - that someone as prolific as Keely could not have produced something fine every time and that when he was good, he was very good. The 1875 St. Anthony of Padua in Greenpoint, one of Morrone's favorite Keelys, makes this point. I also like what the AIA Guide has to say about it: "Attired in red brick and white limestone, a quasi-cathedral on this religious block offers fancy dress for this mostly dour neighborhood. Its 240-foot spire, at a bend in Manhattan Avenue, is a visual pivot not only for Milton Street and Manhattan Avenue but for all of Greenpoint."
In 2012 we walked passed 16 Keely sites in Brooklyn mostly churches, and one in Hunters Point, Queens. The only site I know about we missed was his grave in Holy Cross Cemetery because it was just too far. His son-in-law, Thomas F. Haughton, continued Keely's practice after his death and designed several fine Brooklyn churches, but we gave those a miss.
(Note: some of the names I have used for the churches may not be strictly correct today. As parishes close and consolidate, the names are changed. I think the names I have used are the ones the churches have historically been known by).
Anyway, in January, 2012 I wandered about Brooklyn to see how Patrick's dots were faring. Here is some of what I saw.
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St. Mary Immaculate Conception (Williamsburg)
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St. John the Baptist Church (Bedford Stuyvesant)
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Patrick Keely home in Fort Greene
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But I would also like to put in a good word for Patrick. He is often dismissed as a hack by architectural historians, due in part to his lack of formal training in the profession (although his dad in Ireland may have been an architect, or at least was a builder). Indeed some of his churches are pretty dull. I take the more nuanced view of Francis Morrone ("The Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn", and many others) - that someone as prolific as Keely could not have produced something fine every time and that when he was good, he was very good. The 1875 St. Anthony of Padua in Greenpoint, one of Morrone's favorite Keelys, makes this point. I also like what the AIA Guide has to say about it: "Attired in red brick and white limestone, a quasi-cathedral on this religious block offers fancy dress for this mostly dour neighborhood. Its 240-foot spire, at a bend in Manhattan Avenue, is a visual pivot not only for Milton Street and Manhattan Avenue but for all of Greenpoint."
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| Saint Anthony of Padua (Greenpoint) |
In 2012 we walked passed 16 Keely sites in Brooklyn mostly churches, and one in Hunters Point, Queens. The only site I know about we missed was his grave in Holy Cross Cemetery because it was just too far. His son-in-law, Thomas F. Haughton, continued Keely's practice after his death and designed several fine Brooklyn churches, but we gave those a miss.
(Note: some of the names I have used for the churches may not be strictly correct today. As parishes close and consolidate, the names are changed. I think the names I have used are the ones the churches have historically been known by).
Congratulations on your history study , from your father.
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