Church of Our Lady of Esperanza, Harlem, 1919

The Church of Our Lady of Esperanza is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 624 West 156th Street in the Washington Heights neighborhood of upper Manhattan in New York City.

The church is part of Audubon Terrace, which was designated a Historic District by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission on January 9, 1979, but it is organizationally separate from the museum complex.

The parish was founded by Senora Dona Manuela de Laverrerie de Barril, the wife of the Spanish Consul-General in New York.Archer Milton Huntington (1870-1955), the railroad magnate and founder of the Hispanic Society of America, was recruited to the cause and funded the project for the second Spanish-speaking Catholic church. The church building was begun in 1909 to designs by Archer’s cousin, Charles P. Huntington of 18 West 31st Street.The building was enlarged and extended in 1924 to designs by Lawrence G. White, son of Stanford White. Fittingly for its adjacency to the Hispanic Society, the church was gifted a skylight, a lamp, and numerous stained-glass windows by King Alfonso III of Spain.

The first pastor in 1912 was the Rev. Adrian Buisson, formerly pastor of the Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe 229 West 14th Street. Upon his retirement in 1952, the Rev. Francis Soutberg “was appointed Pastor until 1955 when Father Bernard Guillett assumed the position. Presently the Reverend Monsignor Peter O’Donnell is pastor.”

Both photographs above are shown prior to 1924 alterations. Source

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