West Presbyterian Church

West Presbyterian Church was a congregation and two houses of worship in Manhattan, New York City.

West Church's most prominent pastors were Thomas S. Hastings, 1856–1881, who later became President of Union Theological Seminary, and John R. Paxton, 1882–1893, whose popular sermons attracted, for a time, many wealthy and powerful businessmen as members.

In June of that year, the remainder were organized anew as the North Church, and on July 5, Rev.

They built a house of worship on Carmine Street, designed by Town & Davis[4]: 293 in Greek Revival style, of brick plastered to resemble white stone.

[2][9] In 1848, when it was estimated that New York City had 10,000 indigent children, the Carmine Street Church initiated regular "Boys' Meetings"—religious services—for them.

In 1853, leaders of these programs founded the Children's Aid Society, with Charles Loring Brace, of the West Church, as secretary.

The trustees first engaged the chapel of Rutgers Female Institute[11] on 42nd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

The new church, designed by Jacob Wrey Mould in Victorian Gothic style, was dedicated in 1865 on the Rutgers site.

In 1881, Hastings ended his 25-year-long pastorate at West to join the faculty of Union Theological Seminary, where he remained for another quarter century, during which he served from 1888 to 1897 as the school's president.

Hood Wright, Alfred H. Smith, Frank A. Munsey, Henry Flagler, and Gen. Horace Porter, among many rich and influential men.

When the Civil War broke out he enlisted in the Army, fighting three years and rising to the rank of captain, following which he returned to college and graduated in 1866[22].

He attended Western Theological Seminary[23], and after pastorates in Maryland, Harrisburg, and Washington, D.C., he was called to West Church.

He also became ill. After he submitted his resignation, and later changed his mind, charges and denials of intrigue against him were reported in The New York Times.

[25][26][27][28][29][30][18] According to news reports, Paxton struggled frequently with health problems over ensuing years.

[41] By the early twentieth century, commercialization of the church's midtown location led to the displacement of the area's residential population and the loss of many of West Presbyterian's members.

[42] The 42nd Street property was sold to the Aeolian Company for a new building to house their offices and a concert hall.

Designed by J. C. Cady in Italian Romanesque Revival style, it was occupied when the basement was finished in 1887 but not dedicated until February 6, 1893.