Austin Organ Co.
Opus 1263, 1924

From the NYC AGO NYC Organ Project: The Methodist Episcopal Home for the Aged was founded on May 10, 1883, by Methodist Church members to provide a comfortable residence for their "indigent" elderly. The first Home was situated on McDonough Street and Stuyvesant Avenue. As a result of the tireless efforts of some 200 women and men from virtually every Methodist Episcopal church in Brooklyn, the number of applicants for admission grew so large that expansion was essential. In 1889, a larger Home was built at 920 Park Place at the corner of New York Avenue. Around 1914, the facility was expanded to include Brown Memorial Chapel. The changing needs of the elderly played a role in making the Home what it is today. In 1976, the Home moved to its present location – a modern, sunny four-story building – and took a new direction as a skilled nursing facility. The Home now welcomes all people regardless of religious preference, race, sex, age, handicaps, national origin, or source of payment.

The organ in Brown Memorial Chapel of the Methodist Episcopal Home for the Aged was built in 1924 by the Austin Organ Company. Louis F. Mohr & Co., an organ service firm in the area, recorded the specifications on September 15, 1928 and April 4, 1961. Mohr indicates that the console was located at the back of the pulpit and that the organ was in the rear gallery. The organ was rebuilt (c.1962) by the Midmer-Losh Organ Company.

Information identifying this instrument from the Austin Organs, Inc. web site, accessed December 20, 2004: http://www.austinorgans.com/organ-research.htm.