Reformed Church of Melrose

The story

Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com

The Reformed Church of Melrose is a Gothic Revival and Rundbogenstil style church at 746 Elton Ave. in the Bronx, built in 1879 by architect and builder Henry Piering. It was listed in the National Register in 2017.

Why it's listed

It was listed under criteria A and C, with local-level significance in architecture, European ethnic heritage, and social history. Its period of significance runs about 1879 to 1945, reflecting the church's 1879 construction.

Physical character

The church has brick walls on a stone foundation with limestone trim, under a front-gabled roof of asphalt shingles. A square wooden tower rises beside an octagonal wood spire, with pointed-arch and lancet windows filled with stained glass. Inside, cast-iron columns support a vaulted, pressed-metal ceiling, and the sanctuary retains a bronze or brass chandelier, a gallery, and an apse.

Historical context

The congregation was founded in 1854 and built a frame building at Washington Avenue and East 156th Street in 1856, before Morrisania, West Farms, and Kingsbridge were annexed to New York City in 1874. It began holding English-language services once a month in 1891, and the congregation disbanded in the 1970s. The Greater Eternal Baptist Church organized in 1970, occupied the building in 1979, and dedicated it in 1989.