The large pipe organ in the corner of the assembly hall was made by the E & G G Hook & Hastings Pipe Organ Company in Boston, Massachusetts. The organ made for the Emmanuel Church in Newport, RI. The style of the nameplate near the keyboard tells us the organ was built between 1871 and 1881.
When the Emmanuel Church was undergoing some modifications in 1903, the Christian Church purchased the organ for $300. According to church records, Elbert Sisson, the clerk at the time who was instrumental in obtaining the organ, reported that the church “is now in possession of the finest organ outside of Newport, one that is strictly modern in all respects and practically brand new” It appears that many people who were not church members came often to hear the organ.
The organ has beautiful stencils on many of the pipes and there is a bellows in the back with a lever that someone would have to keep pumping while it was being played.
It has not been played in many years and would require extensive restoration to become operational.
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