When Met Food On Henry Street Was Pilgrim Chapel

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Architectural drawings of Pilgrim Chapel

A photo of the 1930's

photo above, Courtesy of Rick Luftglass

Oh, you know how much I love to learn about the history of our Brooklyn neighborhood. 

Reader and friend Rick Luftglass shares my passion. A while back, he sent me some truly interesting information about the Met Food on Henry Street at the corner of Degraw Street. He also passed along a great architectural drawing from the 1870's and an amazing photo of the 1930's

Here is a bit of background info of the chapel from www. nycago.org, a historic organ web site****

The Pilgrim Chapel began as the Columbia Mission, established in 1845 or 1846, when a few active Christians began a Mission in Freeman's Hall at the corner of Amity and Columbia streets in South Brooklyn. The neighborhood was inhabited mostly by foreigners, many of whom were Irish Catholics. As the Sunday-school was established and prospered, a few benevolent gentlemen purchased three lots of ground on Warren Street, between Hicks and Columbia streets. On this ground, a chapel was erected that could accommodate 400 to 500 persons, and it was completed in November 1852, free of debt. The cost of the land and chapel was about $9,000. Over the next few years membership increased and on March 20, 1854, a church was formed. Financial support for the Warren Street Church was provided by Plymouth Congregational Church and the Church of the Pilgrims, in addition to contributions from members. In 1876, the Church of the Pilgrims assumed charge of the mission, and it was renamed Pilgrim Chapel.

On July 10, 1878, the cornerstone was laid for a new building on Henry Street at the corner of Degraw Street. The site consisted of four lots and measured 100 feet square. J. Cleveland Cady (1837-1919), the prominent architect, designed an Italianate-style building with a tall tower that had an exterior of Philadelphia pressed brick trimmed with Belleville stone and terra cotta. The auditorium had a high ceiling with open timbers, and was lighted by a continuous clear-story in which were windows filled with rolled cathedral glass of beautiful designs. There were 15 rooms grouped around the auditorium, all having direct light, ventilation and heat. When the Sunday-school rooms were opened into the auditorium, there was a capacity of 1,200 people. The new Pilgrim Chapel was formally opened on December 15, 1878.

The Church of the Pilgrims merged into Plymouth Congregational Church in 1934, but it has not yet been determined when the Pilgrim Chapel was disbanded.

Rick Luftglass writes: 

Notice that the building structure/shape is exactly the same as it was then – the main church building and the one-story extension on the left, which at the time was the Sunday School and is now the entrance to the Met Food. The only structural difference (that is, aside from the bricking in of the windows and stucco/cement on the 1st floor, which was already done by the 1930 photo) is that today there’s an air conditioner duct where the steeple was. It’s also possible that the steeple was never built, since this was the architectural sketch and the steeple isn’t on the 1930 photo. No way to tell, though.

Also attached are the 1930 photo of the building. The description on the back of the 1930 photo says that it was a garage at the time, and was previously the Oriole Theatre.
Does anyone out there know when the building was turned into a supermarket?

Thanks for sharing these facts and photos with everyone, Rick!


*****Sources used by www. nycago.org :
"A New Church in Brooklyn," The New York Times (Dec. 16, 1878).

Mohr, Louis F. & Co. Specifications (Feb. 18, 1911) of E. & G. G. Hook & Hastings organ, Op. 915 (1878); courtesy Larry Trupiano.

Nelson, George. Organs in the United States and Canada Database. Seattle, Wash.

"Pilgrim Chapel Anniversary," The New York Times (Dec. 11, 1893).

Stiles, Henry Reed. History of the City of Brooklyn: Including the Old Town and Village of Brooklyn, the Town of Bushwick, and the Village and City of Williamsburgh. Brooklyn: pub. by subscription, 1863.

Van Pelt, William T., comp. The Hook Opus List, 1829-1916 in Facsimile. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 1991.

Photos:

American Architect and Building News (Nov. 2, 1878): original plan of Pilgrim Chapel by J. Cleveland Cady.