The first North
Presbyterian Church was so called because it was near the north end of early Buffalo
near Chippewa, just south of it on the west side of the street. It was wrecked to
make way for the old Shea's Hippodrome Theater (now site of the Fountain Plaza),
about the time the congregation built a new cut-limestone, English-village-Gothic
edifice on the southwest corner of Delaware and Utica. The 3,500 pound bell from
their original church was hung in the bell tower. The church was built just after
the turn of the century when mass transportation networks had opened up new residential
districts.
In 1952, the constituency moved to the suburbs, into a modern church on North Forest
Road in Williamsville.
History - Hellenic Orthodox Church of
the Annunciation
In 1907,
the first Greek Orthodox Church was a rented hall at 961 Main Street. After several
moves to temporary locations to accommodate the growing Greek community, the leaders
recognized a permanent church was necessary to create a center for faith and culture.
A certificate of incorporation for The Hellenic Eastern Orthodox Church of the Annunciation
was filed in County Hall on November 11, 1911. 1t is the name the church still bears.
In the spring of 1912, the cornerstone was laid at 361 Oak Street and a simple, yet
classic Byzantine church was built with the first liturgy celebrated on Christmas
Eve, 1912.
The Church purchased, before World War II, a lot on the corner of Delaware and
Lexington Ave. but had not been allowed steel for building during war time, and because
of zoning regulations, they had been denied a building permit, because lot was too
small to provide enough parking space.
In 1952, the community outgrew the Oak Street church and plans were made to either
build or move to one of a number of larger churches that became available at the
time. The North Presbyterian Church at Delaware and West Utica was chosen and the
community sold the Oak Street church and property, as well as the 1205 Delaware Avenue
building, which had been purchased as a community center earlier.
Because these regulations did not apply to the existing North Church, the Orthodox
congregation agreed to pay exactly what the building had cost in 1907. This was in
1952, not the equivalent of the old dollar, "but an interesting coincidence."
The lot had cost $201,000, masonry, $54,800, and carpentry work $22,689. or approximately
$117, 489.
North Church held its last service in your Church on the last Sunday in December
of 1952.
The Greek Orthodox congregation held its first service there that same afternoon,
followed by a dinner at which more than $100.000 was "handed to the visiting
bishop" as a down payment on the property.
When the church was purchased by the Hellenic Church, some changes were made to conform
to the orthodox tradition:
- The choir moved from the sanctuary to choir loft
- The window arch and transept ceilings were repainted
- The Iconostasis was built along with Bishop's throne
- The pulpit
Sources:
- "Church Tales of the Niagara Frontier : Legends,
History & Architecture," by Austin M. Fox, et. al. Pub. by Western New York Wares,
1994
- Program celebrating the public viewing of the restoration
of the interior in December of 2002
- Nomination for city landmark status, prepared by Francis R. Kowsky
- "Houses of Worship: A Guide to the Religious Architecture
of Buffalo, New York," by James Napora. Master of Atchitecture Thesis. Found
at Buffalo Central Library
