Buildings like this one are why it’s important to take just a minute and occasionally allow your jaded New York self to look up. 400 Broadway, also known as 70 Walker, was built as a warehouse/industrial space in 1865 for Bostonian Augustus Hemenway. Its original tenant was the J.M. Romme & Company, who made hats, furs, straw goods, and umbrellas, which sounds exactly like what a company in the 1860s would do. It’s unclear when or why the current storefront deviated from the building’s design, but it happened at some point before 1991. The building is considered French Second Empire Style and was landmarked as a part of the Tribeca East Historic District on December 8th, 1992.
New Jersey is full of Gilded Age Mansions, built for both their residents as well as country retreats for the elites from New York and Philadelphia, but one of the more interesting and well preserved examples of buildings from that era is in Bay Head. This borough on the shore was built specifically with the wealthy in mind, hoping to capitalize on the easier access that the railway brought from both cities. The homes were predominantly built in the shingle style, which would have been almost outdated when they were completed. But that was kind of the point; this was not an area to be flashy like the mansions on Newport were; they were supposed to have an air of egalitarianism, even if they didn’t. The Bay Head Historic District has over 650 of these buildings preserved and is one of the best examples of what the shore would have looked like at the end of the 19th century.
Located at the end of the Seaport Historic District, next to the FDR, sits the Jasper Ward House. This four-story brick building at 45 Peck Slip was constructed in 1807 by Jasper Ward, a real estate developer. When Ward had purchased the plot the building sits on, it was 200 feet away from the shoreline. Ward’s deed to that land was something known as a water grant, which allowed someone to buy cheap, submerged property with the understanding that they would fill the lot in with landfill and extend the island. Ward did just that, but unlike other developers who filled in the Collect Pond near Five Points, he waited five years for the land to settle. When the building was finished in 1807, it didn’t take long to rent out the space, with Ward advertising its proximity to the docks. Over the years, this was a counting house, and later was part of the Fulton Fish Market. ConEd owned the building and donated it to the South Street Seaport Museum in the 1980s. It was converted into a modern art museum but appears to be closed. The building was listed for sale for over 100 days in 2024 before it was taken off the market. It was landmarked as a part of the South Street Seaport Historic District on May 10th, 1977.
This rather magnificent house is the exclamation point at the end of a row on Rutland Road in Prospect Lefferts Garden. Built in 1910 at the corner of Rutland and Bedford, this house was built for William T. Reinking by architect Benjamin Driesler, as one of five houses, the others being a slightly more modest two-story set up. This area of Brooklyn was originally part of the independent rural village of Flatbush. Development really took off in the beginning of the 20th century with the increase in transportation connections from this area of Brooklyn to Manhattan. 118 Rutland Road was landmarked as a part of the Prospect Lefferts Garden Historic District on October 9th, 1979.
After running this account for a few years, I started to think I knew a thing or two about when buildings were built, just by looking at them. For this row of buildings on 9th between 21st and 22nd in Chelsea, I was so wrong. I imagined these wooden buildings would have been from the 1820s or something, but no, they are instead from the 1850s when they were built for James N. Wells. Out of all of these, it is actually the corner brick building which is the oldest. 183 9th Avenue was built in 1832 for a Mr. Royer, we don’t know his first name, as an office and store. We’re not entirely sure if the building was built with a storefront in mind, but it had one pretty early on in its life. This is one of the best-preserved buildings in Chelsea, with very minimal alterations. Most recently, it was home to Le Grainne Cafe, if you live in the area, let me know if anything has replaced it. It was landmarked as a part of the Chelsea Historic District on September 15th, 1970.
In the late 1800s, New York embarked on a massive building campaign, adding new civic buildings throughout the newly unified five boroughs with an emphasis on firehouses. Before 1898, what now makes up the FDNY were multiple separate municipal fire departments. In order to consolidate into one department, the FDNY built hundreds of new firehouses, including this one in Long Island City, Queens, in 1901. It was designed by architect Branford Lee Gilbert. Gilbert was primarily a commercial architect, and this was the only firehouse he ever built, and boy did he make it count. It was designed in the Dutch Revival style on a large scale. At over 50 feet wide, this would be a shock to the system of anyone from New Amsterdam or old Amsterdam, for that matter. It serves Engine 258 and Ladder 115. It was landmarked on June 20th, 2006.
Around 1864, 437 Waverly Avenue and its neighbors were erected by Alfred Treadwell. Early in their history, they were likely used by workers at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. In the 1890s, though, the resident of this building was caught up in a very strange court case. On a hazy day in July of 1895, Thomas Hall was sitting in a courtroom, prepared to give testimony in support of his friend, Davis Feinman. Hall stepped inside the railing and was promptly arrested. Apparently, Hall and Feinman were part of an arsonist gang, referred to as firebugs. They were accused of beating an informant almost to death. Now, this is the 1890s we’re talking about, so when I was reading about this story, I found this gem of a quote in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle referring to the informant, Gustav Meyers: “Meyers is not a beauty, and his experience has not improved his appearance.” Meyers was catching a beating both physically and verbally. By the early 1900s, the home was owned by a wealthy Black family. In 1913, they put out ads specifically looking for a Black maid and porter to work for the family, something that white families would not do at that time. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find out more about the family that lived here, but they were indicative of the strong Black upper middle class in the area around Clinton Hill. At the beginning of the 21st century, the house was incredibly run down, with the back wall partially collapsed. You can swipe right to see a street view image of the building from 2009. It was auctioned off that same year for $540,000. It was gut-renovated into the beauty it is today. It is currently a rental apartment. You can rent all 2,500 square feet for the small sum of $11,500 per month, aka $138,000 per year. It was landmarked as part of the Clinton Hill Historic District on November 10th, 1981.
Around the corner from the Met is a block that feels more like London than New York. This group of buildings from 16-20 East 84th Street between 5th and Madison look like they could have been taken right from Grovesner Square. The three were built in 1900 and owned for decades by the King family. The patriarch of the family was Edward King, who made his fortune in the silk trade. He was a member of the summer Newport crowd and had a mansion there designed by renowned architect Richard Upjohn. His wife, Mary, acquired the land on 84th Street in 1897. She gave Nos. 16 & 18 to her living children and No. 20 to the widow of her other child. The properties would remain in the King family as late as the 40s when the last was sold. Today, they are co-ops. They were landmarked as a part of the Metropolitan Museum Historic District on September 20th, 1977.
The Prospect Park Boathouse is a peak Gilded Age gem located in its eponymous park. It’s the second boathouse, replacing an earlier one from the 1870s, and was almost demolished in the 1960s. Luckily for us, it was saved and is actually the 4th official landmark in New York. #nychistory #brooklyn
Vanderbilt Avenue on the border of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill is a great place to find old carriage houses. Each one would have been built for a landowner in the neighborhood with coachman’s accommodations above the stable. Today, many of these have been converted into desirable housing. This is 327 Vanderbilt Avenue. We don’t have an exact construction date, but it was likely built in the late 19th century. It has recently undergone a restoration, and you can see some before photos if you look up the address on StreetEasy. Its neighbor was likely built by the same architect as it is almost identical, just a bit taller. 327 Vanderbilt last sold in 2015 for $2.6 million and was landmarked as a part of the Clinton Hill Historic District on November 10th, 1981.
I always like architects who remind you of New Amsterdam in modern day New York. This Patagonia, for example, on Columbus Avenue across from the Museum of Natural History, is one such example. It was built in 1893 by developer Alexander Duff and was designed by noted architect Clarence True. True was one of the most prolific architects of his time. He trained under Richard Upjohn, the designer of Trinity Church and the Connecticut State House, and his office would train the architect of the Chrysler Building, William Van Allen. How’s that for pedigree? 426 Columbus Avenue was landmarked as a part of the Upper West Side Historic District on April 24th, 1990.
Tiny’s is an apt name for this bar and restaurant. In fact, the area in south Tribeca used to be a lot shorter than it is now. When it was built in 1810, it was one of many “tiny” buildings in the neighborhood, as more people moved uptown and built homes like this one. It was owned by Richard Kidney, who was a mason, and has served as a single-family residence, cigar store, illicit bar, grocery store, apartments, and in 2011 became Tiny’s and The Bar Upstairs. It is located on West Broadway between Thomas and Duane Street and was landmarked as a part of the Tribeca South Historic District on December 8th, 1992.
These colorful houses were built in 1844 by Nicholas Low on MacDougal Street. We’re lucky that these survived. In the surrounding neighborhood at the turn of the 20th century, many row houses like these were being demolished and replaced with tenements. Two factors prevented that from happening here. The first is that after Low’s death, rather than selling off the individual properties, they were all placed in a trust and used as rental properties to generate income for the family. When the Low family sold it in the 1920s to the Home and Hearth Company, CEO William Coffin decided to renovate these as an easy way to provide updated housing for artists and writers moving to the area, as well as having the foresight to realize that he was preserving a historic neighborhood. I can’t say for sure when the color schemes were chosen, but they definitely add a splash of life to this block. They were all landmarked as a part of the MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens Historic District on August 2nd, 1967.
Brooklyn is dotted with beautiful Victorian school buildings dating from the late 1800s. This one on Pacific Street was constructed in 1889 as Brooklyn Public School 78. Around this time, Brooklyn was its own successful independent city, and the local government and board of education were eager to show they were every bit as good as their neighbor New York across the river. As a result, dozens of these schools sprang up, which would eventually be absorbed into the New York School system less than 10 years later when the current five boroughs were consolidated into one city. Public School 78 was converted into the Louis Hirsch Memorial Jewish Education Center sometime before 1969. More recently, like many buildings like this, it was converted into a luxury co-op. A three-bedroom apartment here will set you back between $1.8 and $2.5 million, which I’m sad to say is almost a bargain in this neighborhood. It was landmarked as a part of the Cobble Hill Historic District on December 30th, 1969.
Henry Wyckoff was a successful wine merchant in New York following the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the prominent Wyckoff family, the same one that had the farmhouse in Brooklyn that still stands today as the oldest building in New York. As a successful businessman, he invested in real estate, including this house at 159 Charles Street. It was built in 1838 as one of nine homes that Wyckoff built on the property and is the only one that is still standing. Over its lifetime, it served the needs of the far-west village, which was dominated by the docks and brewing industry. It was home to dockmasters, ship captains, and brewers. Within 10 years of its construction, the population of the village quadrupled, which contributed to its many uses. It was last sold in 2018 as a two-family home for $3.2 million. It was landmarked on March 6th, 2007.
It’s Monday which means it’s time for another piece of Gilded Age architecture. This is the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Brooklyn. Built between 1889-1892, it is one of the largest Civil War Memorials in the country. The statues were added in phases with the last being installed in 1901. The arch just underwent a restoration, and you can now take a tour of the inside with the parks department.
New York was the birthplace of five presidents and the primary home of seven, but the first one lived here, and most Americans have no idea who he was. This is the Martin Van Buren house in Kinderhook, New York. Van Buren was the eighth president and the first one to be born an American citizen. He remains the only president to whom English was a second language. As his name suggests, Van Buren was from a Dutch family and grew up speaking his family’s native tongue despite being born and raised in New York. After serving one ineffective term as president, where he supported the gag rule to stop the discussion of ending slavery in the United States, he retired to Kinderhook. Van Buren purchased the land and mansion from the Van Ness family and moved here in 1841. Author Washington Irving wrote A History of New York at the mansion before the president moved in. Martin Van Buren would reside here until his death in 1862. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on October 26th, 1974. This photo was taken on Fuji 400 film. #nyhistory #filmphotography
I’m upstate this weekend, so I’m covering some landmarks from my wife’s hometown. The Crandell Theatre is located on Main Street in the small town of Chatham, New York, about 2.5 hours north of the city. The Crandell Theatre was built in 1926 by Watler Crandell. At the time of its construction, the theater only played silent films; its auditorium had an orchestra pit and organ lofts. In 1929, the theater was configured with speakers. Crandell was purchased by Anthony Quirino in 1960, whose family owned and operated it for 50 years. In 2010, the theater was repaired and reopened as a non-profit community theater. It remains largely unchanged since its construction, and is undergoing another restoration currently. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 18th, 2017. #upstateny
Today’s post is a special guest written post (all others have been photographed and written by yours truly) but it brings us to Green-Wood Cemetery. The Green-Wood Cemetery, located between Sunset Park and Park Slope, was founded as a rural cemetery in 1838 when yellow fever and cholera epidemics were filling traditional churchyard cemeteries in the city. Its limestone Gothic Revival chapel wasn’t built until 1911. It was designed by Warren and Wetmore, the firm behind Grand Central Terminal, to reference Thomas Tower at Christ Church College, Oxford. When it isn’t in use for memorial services, the chapel is open to cemetery visitors for reflection and sometimes houses art installations or events. It was landmarked on April 12th, 2016 Caption guest-written by art historian and friend of Landmarks of New York @dflatts
The West Village is a pretty good snapshot of what mid 1800s New York looked like. Manley’s Wine and Liquors has been at 33 8th Avenue since 1934, but the building it occupies dates back nearly 100 years earlier. It was built in 1845 for Abraham Soper, the building next door for his brother, William. They both made their living as carters, literally wheeling stuff around on carts. A store has existed in the building since its creation with apartments above it. While the original owners would be thrown off by the neon sign, the building would largely look the same to them today as it did over 175 years ago. It was landmarked as part of the Greenwich Village Historic District on April 29th, 1969. #nychistory