Geo. Kilgen & Son, Inc.
1929

The huge nave seats 2,480 people.

Updated through online information from Mark J. Cavanaugh. -- The brochure celebrating the 50th anniversary of the building dates the organ from 1929, reprinting an article on the Church's opening from the "Newark Call." The article describes the organ (without mentioning the builder). It notes that the pipe chambers are in the two towers at the front of the building; from the interior of the church they are encased in grillwork. The towers are of uneven height. In the higher of the two, the article states "...is a set of attuned bronze bells, which will be played from the organ console and which are connected with a clock-work to sound the Angelus. The bells were cast at a foundry in Troy, N.Y., where they were set up and and played for the pastor before shipping." This same brochure also notes that on Friday, June 7, 1929, Pietro A. Yon, then the organist and choirmaster of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York City, gave an organ recital, assisted "by several artists of note." Geo. Kilgen and Son also built the organ in St. Patrick's. The Sacred Heart organ also has the magnificent, rolling deep sound of that instrument, thanks of course to the 16' and 32' stops. I heard the tower bells many times at masses and funerals as an altar boy. This was/is a magnificent instrument and the sound of it is deeply etched in my memory. Sadly, the Archdiocese of Newark closed the parish on July 1 of this year; the future of the building and its organ are uncertain.

Identified through on-line information from Stephen McCarthy.