WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES JANUARY 24, 2019 27
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
The remarkable history
of St. Matthias Church
BY THE OLD TIMER
EDITORIAL@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
Ridgewood was fast developing in
the spring of 1908, as more houses
began sprouting up across
the once-rural landscape. As more
residents moved into the area, new
institutions followed to serve their
every need, from the metaphysical to
the spiritual.
One such institution is St. Matthias
Church, which held its fi rst Mass on
Aug. 30, 1908, about a month aft er the
fi rst issue of the Ridgewood Times was
published.
St. Matthias was formed in May 2,
1908, when Bishop of Brooklyn Charles
McDonnell conceived the parish’s formation
while traveling to Rome, Italy,
with a young priest, Nicholas Wagner,
whom he named the new church’s fi rst
pastor.
Wagner celebrated St. Matthias’
fi rst Mass in the dance pavilion of
Ridgewood Park, one of the many
popular picnic parks in the area at
that time. Meanwhile, the Diocese of
Brooklyn searched for a place to build
the church’s permanent home.
They didn’t have to look far to fi nd it,
as on March 6, 1909, Bishop O’Donnell
purchased 1.28 acres of the former
Meyerrose farm on the north side of
Elm Avenue (present-day Catalpa Avenue)
between Woodward and Onderdonk
avenues. Once one of the largest
farms in Ridgewood, other parcels of
the Meyerrose estate were purchased
and developed into rowhouses and
multifamily apartment houses.
Just 12 days aft er closing the deal,
the diocese began building a combined
church and school building on March
19, 1909. Designed by architect F.J. Berlanbach,
the project cost about $50,000
(or about $1.26 million in today’s dollars)
and was completed in less than
six months.
St. Matthias Church was dedicated
on Labor Day, Sept. 6, 1909. Fr. Ambrose
Schumack, rector of St. Fidelis
Church in College Point, celebrated the
fi rst Mass, and Fr. Francis Siegelack of
St. Margaret Church in Middle Village
delivered the homily.
The two-story building included
meeting rooms in the basement, the
church seating 600 parishioners on the
ground fl oor and six classrooms on the
second fl oor. St. Matthias School would
open a year aft er the church, operated
by the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
St. Matthias Parish grew rapidly,
and the church expanded quickly in
the following few years. The church/
school building was expanded in 1913,
and a year later, the church constructed
a convent for the School Sisters of
Notre Dame nearby.
Ridgewood’s population continued
to explode, and by 1918, St. Matthias
Parish — facing a sharp increase in
both church members and school students
— decided to undertake an even
greater expansion. Father Wagner
received permission from the Diocese
to build a new St. Matthias Church located
about 150 feet east of Onderdonk
Avenue.
Estimated to cost $150,000, the
church building — constructed in
the 1600s Italian Renaissance style —
would be 184 feet long, 62 feet wide and
include enough seating to accommodate
1,200 parishioners.
The parish broke ground on the
new church on April 1, 1918, but construction
was delayed due to America’s
entry into World War I, which
reduced manpower and raised raw
material costs. Enough money was
secured to complete the foundation,
but the rest of construction would
need to wait.
But that wait would extend beyond
the conclusion of World War I in 1919,
and with each passing year, construction
estimates continue to grow. It
seemed the project would never get
underway, but by 1924, Father Wagner
made the decision to move forward
with construction, high labor and
material costs be damned.
Wagner turned to his own parishioners,
especially those in the building
trades, to volunteer their services to
the eff ort. The parish also raised funds
for the new church’s four bells. By
December 1924, much of the church’s
exterior was fi nished, and the parish’s
various associations raised the
$20,000 needed to purchase the high
altar.
Finally, on April 18, 1926, the new
church was dedicated by Bishop of
Brooklyn Thomas Edmund Molloy.
The celebration went on throughout
the following week, as parishioners
reveled in the completion of Ridgewood’s
newest and grandest house of
worship.
St. Matthias Church features
stained glass windows imported
from Germany and fresco paintings
on the ceiling of the Ten Commandments,
St. Anthony, portraits of the
Doctors of the Church, the Fourteen
Holy Martyrs and a group picture
showing parish members dedicating
St. Matthias Church.
Reprinted from the April 9, 2015,
Ridgewood Times.
***
If you have any remembrances or old
photographs of “Our Neighborhood: The
Way It Was” that you would like to share
with our readers, please write to the Old
Timer, c/o Ridgewood Times, 38-15 Bell
Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361, or send an
email to editorial@ridgewoodtimes.com.
Any print photographs mailed to us will
be carefully returned to you upon request.
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