Just one year into the twentieth century, Our Lady of Lourdes Parish celebrated its first Mass, September 1, 1901, in rooms rented by a dancing school, located above a drug store at the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 145th Street.

The parish had been established three months earlier, on June 14th, by Archbishop Corrigan, who appointed Reverend Joseph H. McMahon to the pastorate. Father McMahon, then thirty-eight years of age, had been an assistant at St. Patrick's Cathedral for fifteen years.

As an expression of his interest and concern, the Archbishop personally toured the Washington Heights area with his new pastor to satisfy himself that a new parish was both needed and desirable.

A week later, an additional priest, Reverend James P. Sheridan, was appointed, and the pastor and his assistant took up residence in the parish's firstrectory, a rented apartment across the street from the church at 468 West 145th Street. 

Steps were immediately taken to obtain a suitable place for worish. In those days a drug store was located on the northeast corner of Amsterdam Avenue and 145th Street. Above the drug store, on the second floor, were three rooms rented by a dancing school. In August, 1901, Father McMahon decided that the dancing school offered the best available location for a temporary church. Consequently he leased the three rooms and had the partitions between them removed to make one large hall. 

The new hall was painted and papered; an alter and an organ were obtained, together with one hundred and fifty chairs - all that the room would hold; and, with everything in readiness, the first parish Mass was celebrated on Sunday, September 1, 1901. On that same Sunday, the first baptism in the parish was conferred, not on an infant, but on an adult convert, Francis Dykes. On the following day, he was married at a nuptial Mass to Maria Huot, and received his First Communion.

This was the beginning of many thousands of such joyful ceremonies which were to be preformed at Our Lady of Lourdes from that day to ours. It seems winsomely appropriate that they all started in a room dedicated to music and dance.

Right Reverend Monsignor, Joseph H. McMahon
Founding Pastor, 1901 - 1939

Father McMahon at once began negotiations to obtain a proper church building for his parish. He first considered buying an existing buildings and his eye fell on the Convent Avenue Baptist Church on 145th Street, as well as on the Dutch Reformed Church on the opposite corner. Because the price asked for these properties was considered too high, discussions were broken off, and Father McMahon decided to buy a site and construct a new church. 

Although the Washington Heights area was then being rapidly settled, there was, seventy-five years ago, still a considerable amount of open land available. In fact, the first parish bazaars were held in open fields along West 147th Street. Within the block bounded by Convent Ave. and Amsterdam 

In a Washington Heights of open fields, Our Lady of Lourdes was built in 1902-1903; its building stone salvaged from notable landmarks around the city.

The ingenuity and good taste of the O'Reilly firm were given a suitable and permanent recognition in 1974, when our Our Lady of Lourdes Church was designated a New York City landmark by the Landmarks Preservation Commission of New York - a recognition which has been accorded to only a handful of buildings in this immense city.

Sad to relate, the principle architect of the firm, Cornelius O'Reilly, never lived to see his completed handiwork. While inspecting the walls when they were still going up, he slipped from a ladder and suffered a bad fall. Carried across the street to the rectory, then located at 464 West 142nd Street, and given the last rites, Mr. O'reilly died in little more than an hour. A bronze plaque to his memory - which, curiously enough, neglects to mention that he was the designer of the church - can be seen in the west stairway to the Grotto.

The speed with which the church was built is cause for astonishment. As it turned out, the temporary arrangement in the dancing school above the drug store lasted but a year, since the basement church - what was later to become the Grotto - was completed in that time. The first Mass was celebrated there on Sunday, September 7, 1902.

Only fourteen months later, the upper church was completed and outfitted, and it was dedicated on Sunday, December 20, 1903, by Archbishop Farley. This peed is all the more astonishing when it is realized that construction was hampered and delayed by labor disputes (there were strikes even then!); by a failure of one of the contractors to meet specifications - his work was condemned, and had to be ripped out and replaced; and by a lawsuit, some neighbors alleging that zoning regulations prohibited the construction of a church in the 142nd Street block - an allegation which was not sustained by the courts. 

Besides the bazzars already referred to, there were plays, concerts, "County Fairs," "Chrysanthemum Teas" for the women of the parish, and "Country Circuses" which featured a big top illuminated by a new marvel called electricity.

During the winter Father McMahon gave lectures, illustrated with stereopticon slides, on the Bible and Church History, at the Harlem Casino. At the outdoor events in the summer, a major attraction for youngsters was a five-cent ride in a wagon drawn by a billy goat. The goat was a pet of the John E. Feiler family, pioneer parishioners, and, when he was not donating his services to the parish, the animal was housed in a livery stable at 530 West 139th Street. 

The strenuous efforts of the pastor were sorely needed, since the cost of the church building (exclusive of equipment) was one hundred and four thousand dollars. This sum, coupled with the cost of the site, put the parish heavily into debt - a debt which was not finally paid off until 1919. The church, of course, was assisted by numerous benefactions.

The most notable of these was the erection in 1904 of the beautiful Main Altar, designed by Thomas H. Poole and built by Allen of Fairhaven, Vermont. The altar was the gift of Mr. E. J. Farrell in memory of his deceased wife. The altar rail, a thoroughly remarkable specimen of brass work, was the gift of Mrs. Denis Shea in memory of her deceased husband and son. The sanctuary lamp - an eagle in silver, holding in its beak a lamp, and resting on a column of Siena marble - has to be seen to be believed. The conception, apparently, was Father McMahon's, and the donor was Mr. T. T. Eckert, Jr.

Finally, no one who has ever visited the church can quite forget the gallery frontals - screens between the pillars of the nave, at the height at which galleries would occur if there were any. These frontals, reminiscent of the galleries of the church of St. Etienne du Mont in Paris, give an illusion od depth to Our Lady of Lourdes Church, since they make the aisles appear to be much longer than they actually are.

1976
This Limited Edition Publication was Produced Especially For 
Our Lady of Lourdes Church - New York City
By Custombook, Inc., The Custom Building, So. hackensack, N. J. 07606