[2] In March 1851, two months after the death of naturalist John James Audubon, his widow sold an entire city block out of her 24-acre farm to neighbor Dennis Harris; it was bounded by 155th and 156th Street and Tenth and Eleventh Avenue (today called Amsterdam Avenue and Broadway, respectively).

The Panic of 1857 caused economic uncertainty (which lasted until 1859), and by the end of the year, with the foundation in and the walls going up, work had to be halted for lack of money.

[6]: 149  The same year, Charles Augustus Stoddard graduated from Union Theological Seminary in New York City and was assigned by the presbytery as a supply preacher for the Washington Heights Church.

The congregation asked him to remain, and he was ordained pastor of the church in September 1859, beginning a tenure of 24 years.

Dr. Samuel Irenaeus Prime, proprietor and editor of the religious weekly newspaper New York Observer, and became a member of the editorial staff.

The congregation, however, prevailed upon him to stay, agreeing to release him from some of his responsibilities,[4] and for ten years he was both pastor and newspaper owner-editor.

Edwin Francis Hatfield, then pastor of the Seventh Presbyterian Church of this city for 20 years, was chosen to succeed Mr. Roosevelt and was installed February 13, 1856.

Mr. Boorman gave the congregation free and full possession of four lots of ground, 100 feet square, on the northeast corner of 9th Avenue and 31st street, as of May 1.

Robert Griffith Hatfield,[27][28][29] brother of the pastor,[30] was appointed the architect, and contracts were awarded for the mason-work to Mr. C. H. Tucker ($17,819) and for the carpenter-work to Mr. Hunt ($14,352).

The former house of worship was sold to the North West Presbyterian Church[6]: 61  for $600, and soon after removed to 50th Street, near Broadway.

[6]: 113  A great fund-raising effort was launched, and by January 22, 1871, the church was debt-free; one week later, the congregation held a celebratory service to mark the achievement.

Rossiter announced his resignation for January 1900 to become American Secretary in New York of the McAll Mission, which did evangelical work in France.

The development of “high class” elevator apartments to house the influx of new residents to Washington Heights and other neighborhoods soon followed.

[52][53][54] The two congregations began worshipping together in the Fall of 1904[55] and in February 1905, with construction underway, the Presbytery gave formal approval and the union was finalized.

[56] The trustees had planned to purchase land immediately adjacent to the existing church on 155th Street, to replace it with a larger one, but could not come to terms with the landowner.

Edwin Outwater was the builder and the superintendent of construction was Professor Collins P. Bliss, head of the engineering department of New York University, and son of the pastor emeritus.

The façade, of smooth, gray brick, limestone, and terra cotta, comprises the sanctuary on the east and parish house on the west, with a 110-foot clock tower, atop the narthex, between them.

The sanctuary's sloping floor has wooden pews, facing east, that curve around the main altar space.

In 1923[5] a community center, with a gymnasium, a swimming pool, classrooms, and a kitchen, was built adjacent to the parish house to its west.

The two-story building, designed by architect Eli Benedict, a member of the church, was called Memorial House to commemorate the men who died in World War I.

On April 12, 1891, David Garrett Smith (ordained 1892)[15]: 482  was engaged to perform the pastoral work of the congregation, which he did for more than a year.

On January 7, 1892, the trustees of the Church Extension Committee signed a contract to purchase a plot of ground, 140 feet by 100 feet, and the Sunday School Committee of the Presbytery had plans drawn up for a modest midblock church at 308–310 West 139th Street, between 8th Avenue (today called Frederick Douglass Boulevard) and Edgecombe Avenue.

It is made of Ohio brick with brownstone trim and has a Georgia pine interior, galleries for choir and congregation, and facilities for a Sunday school.

Bryce K. Douglas,[15]: 242  a favorite with the young people, was unanimously elected pastor at a meeting of the members on February 4.

[77][15]: 485 In 1902, the congregation purchased land nearby, on the northwest corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and 141st Street, for a new church, having outgrown the existing one.

[80][81] It was later purchased by the Swedish Immanuel Congregational Church, which began services there in March 1905, gave it a thorough renovation a few months later, and installed a new organ in 1909.

[86] Architect Ludlow & Valentine gave the Gothic-style church a square bell tower, light yellow Roman brick, and Indiana limestone trim.

Dr. Elliott Wilber Brown came to the church in January as the temporary supply and in March accepted the congregation's call to become its pastor.

Kirkland handed in his resignation, effective January 1, reportedly because differences of opinion between groups representing each of the two churches over administrative matters had been more or less constant since the merger.

[57]: §8:6 Mawuhle Presbyterian Church, a fellowship within the Presbytery of New York City whose members are mostly from Ghana, also calls the building home, worshiping in its sanctuary on Sunday afternoons.