FIRST UNITARIAN UNIVERSALIST CHURCH
5212 S. Claiborne Ave. at Jefferson Ave. New Orleans, LA. 70115

The building above, which dates to 1950, was originally built by a congregation called First Evangelical And Reformed Church. First Evangelical And Reformed Church began in 1825 as one of the first reformed German speaking churches in New Orleans. Their previous locations were centered around land on Carondelet Street and Clio Street in the Dryades area of the city. The first two churches were destroyed by fire, and a third church, located on Carondelet Street, was opened in 1907.

Following a merger with the Church of Christ, the congregation elected to build the church above in 1950. Another merger took place later in the 1960's and in 1992, the congregation again merged and became First Trinity Evangelical United Church of Christ at which time they moved to Metairie, Louisiana. In conjunction with the 1992 move, the South Claiborne Street building was turned over to the Unitarian Church which still operates in the building shown above.

ORGAN INFORMATION

When the 1950's building was planned, the church ordered a 3 manual Wicks organ to replace the original Barkhoff organ that was located in the Carondelet Street church. Pipe work from the Barkhoff instrument was incorporated into the new Wicks which bore Wicks Opus # 2935. The organ was first installed in the Carondelet Street church and then moved to the new church in 1950. In the late 1950's, an expansion was done by Wicks, and the Opus number 4010 was then assigned.

The church was turned over to the First Universalist Unitarian congregation in 1992, but the organ remained with the building and was used by the Unitarian church.

The organ was damaged in 2005 as a result of Hurricane Katrina related flooding. It was removed from the building, prior to flood repairs, after the congregation decided that it did not wish to repair or restore the instrument. Salvageable parts of this instrument are presently playing as additions to several other organs in the area. Four ranks of pipes are now included in WIcks Opus 838 in St. Joseph Catholic Church in Ponchatoula, LA. and additional pipe work is now installed in the organ at St. Mary's Nativity Church in Raceland, LA.

Wicks Opus 2935/4010, 3-manual organ, originally of 20 ranks, purchased on August 19, 1948, for $13,900.00.  Some of the metal pipes were reused from the old organ.  These are shown below with an asterisk.