Brick Presbyterian Church

Source: TFPNJ Historic Postcard Archive

Sometimes a building will be so iconic, it becomes synonymous with a specific neighborhood. Sometimes it's a hospital, or a tall tower, but more often I find it's a church. The first example of this that comes to mind for me is, without a doubt, Brick Church. 

The Presbyterian congregation that founded Brick Church formed in 1832, but it wasn't until 1878 that the iconic red brick structure rose up on the corner of Main Street and Prospect. The new house of worship was designed in a handsome Romanesque style. 

The founding congregation was dwindling by the turn of the century. The building was sold to the Temple of Unified Christians, a small Haitian ministry. 

The large building was more space than the congragation could keep up with. The main sanctuary was slowly falling apart while the Temple used the large choir room in the back. I had been keeping an eye on the building as it continued to deteriorate. Over the years. Every so often I would see a member of the congregation outside the building. One time I asked if I could go inside and take pictures. Unfortunately I was flatly rejected.

The Temple Of Unified Christians eventually left the building in 2020, right around the time Covid was running rampant. I continued to check up on the building, but without an official closure announcement I wasn't totally sure if the building was totally unoccupied yet. Then one day a friend of mine who was in the area let me know there was a door ajar out back. 

The next morning  I was inside documenting the building. The main sanctuary was less impressive than I always imagined, but I was very grateful to finally see what was on the other side of the stained glass.

Then on April 19th of 2023 that same friend sent me a frantic message. " Dude.... did you know they're tearing down brick church??" accompanied by a screenshot that showed the work. I flew down to the site to see it for myself, and sure enough there was a massive hole ripped through the most structurally intact portion of the building.

The demolition was done under the cover of darkness because the owners knew they would never be able to get the proper permits for the work if they went about the demolition the right way. 

Horrified passers-by called the police, who showed up and promptly halted the work. Unfortunately too much damage had been done, and the building was now beyond fixing.

The church sat wide open to the elements for almost a year as the city decided whether or not to allow the owners to finish the job. Eventually they were given the go ahead, and work started up again in March of 2024.

There are so many people to blame here. Whether by ignorance or malice, this historic treasure which was the namesake for the neighborhood is now gone. The demolition was done so quick and sloppily, and with almost no attempts made to salvage the beautiful, priceless interior. Hopefully this loss will serve as a motivation for city officials to never let this happen again. 

Columbian School/George Washington Carver Academy

The city of East Orange is no stranger to fine architecture when it comes to public school buildings. These handsome brick structures are peppered throughout the streets, with many dating back to the 1800's. One noteworthy example of this standard of architectural elegance and excellence was the Columbian School in the Ampere neighborhood.



Source

The three story, eight room brick building was constructed on the corner of Grove street and Springdale avenue in 1892. The land it was built on was originally grazing land for the cows of nearby dairy farms.

The relatively large building originally accommodated grades k-3. As the city around the school grew, so did the need for more space. In 1912, several new sections were added to the building. One of the new additions was a beautiful large auditorium.

The auditorium had large windows separated by tall pilasters. The stage was flanked by smooth, corinthian capped columns. Another highlight of the room was the mezzanine level that included a projection room.

Surrounding the ceiling was an ostentatious stacked plaster crown molding. The hand carved display featured a floral rim perched atop a large cove. Below that existed a denticulated egg-and-dart detail. In addition, several more rows of hand carved ornamentation were banded around the bottom rim.

The field of the ceiling also had a plaster grid that extended all the way to the crown. The new auditorium was a monument to the skill of the Italian masons who constructed it.

Another interesting feature of the school was the library. The large room was the highest point on the building. The hallway leading to the room was lit by skylights. Stained glass transom windows were installed over the doorways, and were still intact over a hundred hears later.

Eventually the population of the city began to dwindle. The school was closed, and was reborn as the George Washington Carver Academy.  They made a number of improvements to the building, including replacing all of the windows with new aluminum models. The GWC academy continued to use the building until 2006, when a pervasive mold problem forced them to vacate the historic school.

The structure sat vacant for a decade before I caught word that it was supposed to be demolished. Plans called for a brand new school to be built on the site. Usually when an old school building is torn down with the intent of being rebuilt, I quell my preservationist reservations and tell myself "at least the students will have a brand new, state of the art school building". However, something about this decision bugged me. While there are still tons of historic schools in use around the city, there are also an abundance of vacant lots. The city is also designated a "transit community"; a distinction that allows incentives for development through tax breaks. This, paired with historic tax credits that the structure was certainly eligible for, could have offset the cost of reusing the building significantly. Alas, my feelings were dashed as demolition began in late 2016. A few months later, the site was but a pile of brick and twisted steel.

This sad but all too common story is one that will certainly be repeated. Major cities all across the state are choosing to replace their historic schools, rather than sell or reuse them. A few notable cases being Trenton Central High School and the former Newark Technical School. As these stories continue to unfold, I will do my best to continue to tell them.