Thomas Henry Poole
Encyclopedia
Thomas Henry Poole was British-born architect
who designed numerous churches and schools in New York City
.
Poole was born in Shrewsbury
, England
, in 1860. He was educated at Rugby
and Christ Church, Oxford
. Poole is listed in a Manhattan
city directory
as an architect in 1887, when he was 27, suggesting that he may have had a substantial apprenticeship. In 1886 he resided at 127 West 56th Street. In 1900 he was listed at 15 West 30th Street. In 1918, the T. H. Poole Co. had offices at 13 West 30th Street.
when it opened in London
, England
, in 1903:
Poole’s name also appears as a contributor in the Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference, published in 1913. He wrote entries about architectural terms, such as apse chapel
, also known as the lady chapel
.
Poole died July 31, 1919, at his Manhattan
office, 13 West 30th Street. His funeral was held at Saint Cecilia's in Brooklyn, one of his churches.
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
who designed numerous churches and schools in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Poole was born in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1860. He was educated at Rugby
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
and Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church, Oxford
Christ Church or house of Christ, and thus sometimes known as The House), is one of the largest constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England...
. Poole is listed in a Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
city directory
City directory
A city directory is a listing of residents, streets, businesses, organizations or institutions, giving their location in a city. Antedating telephone directories, they have been in use for centuries....
as an architect in 1887, when he was 27, suggesting that he may have had a substantial apprenticeship. In 1886 he resided at 127 West 56th Street. In 1900 he was listed at 15 West 30th Street. In 1918, the T. H. Poole Co. had offices at 13 West 30th Street.
Works (partial list)
Poole was a Roman Catholic, and most of his commissions were for the archdiocese in and around New York. He seldom designed Protestant churches; but these too were in the city.Brooklyn
- St. Cecilia's, 1893, Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Bronx
- Academy of Mount St. Ursula High SchoolAcademy of Mount St. Ursula High SchoolThe Academy of Mount St. Ursula is a girls’ Catholic college preparatory school, established in 1855 in the East Morrisania section of the Bronx, New York. Since 1892, the school has been located at Bedford Park Boulevard and Bainbridge Avenue, two blocks east of the Grand Concourse, in the Bronx,...
, 1892, East Morrisania section of the BronxThe BronxThe Bronx is the northernmost of the five boroughs of New York City. It is also known as Bronx County, the last of the 62 counties of New York State to be incorporated...
Manhattan
- One of the earliest Poole designs is the Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic ChurchHoly Name of Jesus R.C. ChurchThe Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church stands at 96th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, New York City.It was taken over by the Franciscans in 1990. The parish has an attached elementary and middle school, as well as a community center on West 97th Street....
on the northwest corner of West 96th Street96th Street (Manhattan)96th Street is a major two-way street in East Harlem and the Upper West Side, which is a part of the New York City borough of Manhattan, running from the East River at the FDR Drive to the Henry Hudson Parkway at the Hudson River...
and Amsterdam Avenue, begun in 1891 and dedicated in 1900. The GothicGothic Revival architectureThe Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
design features an interior hammerbeam roofHammerbeam roofHammerbeam roof, in architecture, is the name given to an open timber roof, typical of English Gothic architecture, using short beams projecting from the wall.- Design :...
. - Poole was a parishioner at the Church of Our Lady of Good CounselOur Lady of Good Counsel Church (Manhattan)The Church of Our Lady of Good Counsel is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 230 East 90th Street, Manhattan, New York City. The parish was established in 1886. The church was completed in 1892 to the designs by Thomas H. Poole. The address...
, at 232 East 90th Street. It is also Gothic but with huge Tudor-style paired turretTurretIn architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s at each end. The church is executed in an unusual Vermont marbleMarbleMarble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
, a filmy blue-white with rich veining. It was completed to Poole's design in 1892. - One of his few commissions not for a Catholic parish was the Harlem Presbyterian Church in 1905. Located at West 122nd Street and Mount Morris Park West, it boasts a strikingly eclectic design with a dome on top of a RomanesqueRomanesque Revival architectureRomanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
lower section. It is in the Mount Morris Park Historic DistrictMount Morris Park Historic DistrictMount Morris Park Historic District was designated to be a historic district by New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1971. It is a large 16-block area in east central Harlem. The boundaries are West 118th and West 124th Streets, Fifth Avenue, and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard...
. - The wildly ornate neo-Gothic facade of the 1907 St. Thomas the Apostle, on 118th Street just west of Saint Nicholas AvenueSaint Nicholas Avenue (Manhattan)Saint Nicholas Avenue is a major New York City street. It runs north-south between 193rd Street and 111th Streets in the New York City borough of Manhattan. It goes through the neighborhoods of Washington Heights, Harlem, Hamilton Heights, and Inwood...
, was for many years a neighborhood landmark. In 2008 it is slated for demolition. - St. Catherine of GenoaSt. Catherine of Genoa's Church (New York City)The Church of St. Catherine of Genoa is a Roman Catholic parish church in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 506 West 153rd Street, between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue, Hamilton Heights, Manhattan, New York City.-Parish:...
, 1887, 506 West 153rd Street, Hamilton Heights. The Archdiocese of New York closed the parish school in 2006. - St. Columba Catholic School, 1910, at 331 West 25th Street in Chelsea. Gothic style, pressed brick with terra cotta trimmings. In 2006, the Archdiocese of New York closed the school.
- Sacred Heart Academy, 1884, 49 West 17th St. 4-story brick. Demolished.
- St. Joseph of the Holy Family School, 1912, 125th Street and Morningside Avenue, Harlem. Closed.
Queens
- In 1915 he designed the grand limestone facade and sanctuary of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church in Astoria, Queens, NY.
- 1919: Saint Benedict Joseph Labre Church, listed on the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2007.
Long Island
- Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, 1907, 168 Hill Street, Southampton, New YorkSouthampton (town), New YorkThe Town of Southampton is located in southeastern Suffolk County, New York, U.S., partly on the South Fork of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town had a total population of 54,712...
. - St. Lawrence the Martyr Church in Sayville, New YorkSayville, New YorkSayville is a hamlet and CDP in Suffolk County, New York, . Located on the south shore of Long Island in the Town of Islip, the population of the CDP was 16,735 at the time of the 2000 census.-History:...
. Dedicated 1896; destroyed by fire 1967.
Outside New York City
- St. John the Evangelist, in White Plains, New YorkWhite Plains, New YorkWhite Plains is a city and the county seat of Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located in south-central Westchester, about east of the Hudson River and northwest of Long Island Sound...
. Consecrated in 1892. English gothic style in Vermont marble. - St. Henry's Church in Bayonne, New JerseyBayonne, New JerseyBayonne is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is a peninsula that is situated between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east...
. Started in 1911 and consecrated in 1915. St. Henry's is part of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark.
- The Church of the Transfiguration, 268 S. Broadway, Tarrytown, New YorkTarrytown, New YorkTarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
. Built by the CarmelitesCarmelitesThe Order of the Brothers of Our Lady of Mount Carmel or Carmelites is a Catholic religious order perhaps founded in the 12th century on Mount Carmel, hence its name. However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain...
and dedicated in October 1898, it is a Gothic design done in graniteGraniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
. - Saint Cecilia's Church, 55 West Demarest Avenue, Englewood, New JerseyEnglewood, New JerseyEnglewood is a city located in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 27,147.Englewood was incorporated as a city by an Act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of...
, completed 1910. Also a Carmelite church in the Gothic tradition, it was built for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of NewarkRoman Catholic Archdiocese of NewarkThe Archdiocese of Newark is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in northern New Jersey, United States. Its ecclesiastic territory includes all of the Catholic parishes and schools in the New Jersey counties of Bergen, Union, Hudson and Essex .-History:Originally established as the Diocese of...
. - Gibbons Hall at The Catholic University of AmericaThe Catholic University of AmericaThe Catholic University of America is a private university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by the U.S. Catholic bishops...
, 620 Michigan Avenue, Northeast, Washington, D.C. Built in 1911 and named for the University's first chancellor, James Gibbons, Cardinal Archbishop of Baltimore (1877–1921). This Gothic Revival building is a student dormitory. - Sisters of the Holy CrossSisters of the Holy CrossThe Sisters of the Holy Cross headquartered on the same grounds as Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, Indiana, is one of three Catholic congregations of religious sisters which trace their origins to the foundation of the Congregation of Holy Cross by the Blessed Father Basil Anthony-Marie Moreau,...
Academy, 1909, 4-story brick and stone school, Northwest Washington, D.C. Demolished for Howard UniversityHoward UniversityHoward University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
campus.
Writing career
Poole also served his Catholic faith as a writer. He contributed articles to The Messenger, a church publication with offices in Manhattan. He wrote a detailed architectural review of the Westminster CathedralWestminster Cathedral
Westminster Cathedral in London is the mother church of the Catholic community in England and Wales and the Metropolitan Church and Cathedral of the Archbishop of Westminster...
when it opened in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, in 1903:
“…outside of its practical character it ought certainly to lead to the further development of all that is beautiful in art and to the better interior adornment of our churches… giving us the best possible facilities for the carrying out of all the requirements of our religion to the fullest possible extent with all the solemnity and grandeur that the service of man can invoke and the offering of our best works and thoughts as well as of our bodies and souls to God the Lord and Master of all.”
Poole’s name also appears as a contributor in the Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference, published in 1913. He wrote entries about architectural terms, such as apse chapel
Apse chapel
An apse chapel, in church architecture, is a chapel radiating tangentially from one of the bays or divisions of the apse. It is reached generally by a semicircular passageway, or ambulatory, exteriorly to the walls or piers of the apse....
, also known as the lady chapel
Lady chapel
A Lady chapel, also called Mary chapel or Marian chapel, is a traditional English term for a chapel inside a cathedral, basilica, or large church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary...
.
Poole died July 31, 1919, at his Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
office, 13 West 30th Street. His funeral was held at Saint Cecilia's in Brooklyn, one of his churches.