Immanuel Congregational Church of Staten Island, aka the Hoyt Avenue Church
The idea for these posts came while doing a little research with the 1936 insurance maps of the North Shore and I saw that this church once existed, only a few blocks from my house. I had never heard of it. Coupled with a few other small churches long lost to history, I hope to make several of these posts over the next week or two.
According to an article in the Advance, the church started as two separate groups: a house church composed of 14 Swedes that met in a mission house on Westervelt Avenue and an adult Sunday school that met in the old Masonic hall in Port Richmond. In 1917 the two groups merged as the Swedish Immanuel Church of Staten Island. It was affiliated with the Swedish Covenant Church, an evangelical church. Later it was renamed the Immanuel Congregational Church of Staten Island. Finally, to avoid confusing it with other churches named Immanuel, it became known simply as the Hoyt Avenue Church.
In 1974, just before a series of renovations were to take place, a fire broke out during a wedding rehearsal. The fire spread and all the windows were destroyed and the roof collapsed. The congregation eventually voted to disband. Later, the property was sold and houses were built in the church's place.
Here's the church's 60th-anniversary bulletin. Clicking on the link below will let you read the entire contents. It's a great snapshot of mid-fifties church life; the hymns, the exciting dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, and frozen peas, and the speeches. It's also a nice reminder of a time when packs of wild Scandinavians roamed freely on the North Shore.
Hoyt and Delafield - 2012
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