Church of the Messiah (New York City)
Encyclopedia
The Church of the Messiah was a former Unitarian
church located on 728-730 Broadway, near Waverly Place, Lower East Side, Manhattan
, New York. The church was built 1839 and operated as such until 1865 when it was sold to department store-magnate A. T. Stewart and converted into a theater.
The theatre operated under a series of names. It was first called A. T. Stewart’s Broadway Athenaeum, “remodeled in 1865 by J. H. Hackett. It operated under various managers as Daly's New Fifth-Avenue Theater, Fox’s Broadway Theater, The Globe, and finally as the New Theatre Comique when it was run by Harrigan & Hart….it burned down in 1884.” Recorded in 1876 by the New York Express: Located “opposite the New York Hotel, is a theatre.” It was also briefly called New York Theatre.
Since the fire, several low rise buildings occupy the site (728-730 Broadway), which is located next to the NYU Health Centre.
Conversely, an 1833 church-converted-to-theater contemporary, the First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., survived through its conversion into Fords’ Theatre, the eventual site of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln
. Although variously used for offices or vacant afterward, it was restored and maintained as a theater museum because it is a "National Landmark".
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it merged with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.According to Mortimer Rowe, the Secretary...
church located on 728-730 Broadway, near Waverly Place, Lower East Side, Manhattan
Lower East Side, Manhattan
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, New York. The church was built 1839 and operated as such until 1865 when it was sold to department store-magnate A. T. Stewart and converted into a theater.
The theatre operated under a series of names. It was first called A. T. Stewart’s Broadway Athenaeum, “remodeled in 1865 by J. H. Hackett. It operated under various managers as Daly's New Fifth-Avenue Theater, Fox’s Broadway Theater, The Globe, and finally as the New Theatre Comique when it was run by Harrigan & Hart….it burned down in 1884.” Recorded in 1876 by the New York Express: Located “opposite the New York Hotel, is a theatre.” It was also briefly called New York Theatre.
Since the fire, several low rise buildings occupy the site (728-730 Broadway), which is located next to the NYU Health Centre.
Conversely, an 1833 church-converted-to-theater contemporary, the First Baptist Church of Washington, D.C., survived through its conversion into Fords’ Theatre, the eventual site of the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
. Although variously used for offices or vacant afterward, it was restored and maintained as a theater museum because it is a "National Landmark".