In 1851, Hall & Labagh of New York City built a new organ for the new St. Thomas Church, after fire had destroyed the previous church building. The case, designed by Wills and Dudley and painted to imitate oak, was 27 feet high, 17 feet wide and 10 feet deep. When the church relocated to Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street in 1866, the vestry planned to move the organ, but in the end decided to have an entirely new organ built by Hall, Labagh & Co. The 1851 organ was placed in storage until it was sold as a temporary organ for the new Steinway Hall at Fourteenth Street and Fourth (Park) Avenue. The temporary organ remained in Steinway Hall until both were demolished in 1925.