Pipe Organ Database

a project of the organ historical society

F. A. Bartholomay (& Sons) View Extant Instruments View Instruments

Distinction:

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1900-1954.
Classification: Builder

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Photo of the Bartholomay Shop building, dated 1959.: Photograph from an archival source: City of Philadelphia Department of Records, submitted by Paul R. Marchesano. Taken approx. 1959

October 30, 2004:

From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders, by David H. Fox (Richmond, Va.: Organ Historical Society, 1991). -

With Roosevelt firm branch shop in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1879; established F. A. Bartholomay & Sons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1900; resided in Haddon Heights, New Jersey, by 1920; retired and closed firm, 1954.*

* According to Orpha Ochse, it was Frederick, the son, who closed the firm and retired.
"Philadelphia ceased to be an organ-building city in 1954, when Frederick Bartholomay (the son) closed his doors in favor of retirement.�
  (Ochse, History of the Organ, 284 — see Sources below for full citation) -Ed.

Sources:

  • Orpha Ochse, The History of the Organ in the United States (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1975), 284.
  • The Diapason, November 1922, 22.
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We received the most recent update for this note from Database Manager on April 29, 2019.

Database Specs:

  • 20 Organs
  • 0 Divisions
  • 3 Consoles