Dry Dock, Shipyards, and St. Brigid's

Throughout much of the 1800's, the east side of the Eleventh Ward (the official designation of the area we call the East Village) was an important center of shipbuilding.  In 1824, a group of shipbuilders came together as the New York Dry Dock Company to construct an inclined railway at the foot of East 10th Street to pull ships from the water for repair.  By 1844 there were shipyards extending along the East River from Grand Street to 12th Street.

The area became known as the "Dry Dock" district, or in some texts, simply "Dry Dock". (A dry dock is a large drainable basin used for building and/or repairing ships.) Dry Dock Street was located adjacent to the New York Dry Dock Company's facility.

1840: Detail from the Chapman and Hall map.  This is the earliest map I found that includes Dry Dock Street (between Avenues C and D and 10th to 13th Streets), as well as the labeled "Dry Dock".  Note the extension of Lewis Street (east of Avenue D), the remnant of which is today's Lillian Wald Dr.  Also note the grayed areas which seem to indicate developed areas of the street grid--much of the area directly surrounding Tompkins Square remains undeveloped.
Rumsey Collection

Among the notable shipbuilders of the era was William H. Webb, who built 133 ships (ranging from clippers to steamships) between 1840 and 1865 from his shipyard between 5th and 7th Streets.

1867: Detail from the remarkable Dripps map.  Dry Dock street has been trimmed back to 12th Street, and the William Webb shipyards are clearly marked.  In contrast with the Chapman and Hall map above, the entire ward has been developed.  Be sure to download the full-resolution version of this map!
Library of Congress

The area became the home for thousands of shipyard workers and their families.  In 1921, Justice L.A. Giegerich recalled his childhood in the Eleventh Ward of the 1860's:

Neat brick dwelling houses containing at most two families occupied the greater portion of the area lying between Third and Ninth streets and Avenue C and the East River and there were also many such houses in other parts of the ward.
Valentine's Manual of Old New York, 1921 Edition

The opportunities provided by the booming shipyards made the area a common landing point for Irish immigrants escaping the famine between 1845 and 1851.  Plans were made for a Catholic church to serve this community, and in September 1848, the cornerstone was laid for St. Brigid's (named for the patron saint of boatmen).  Designed by Patrick Keely, a noted designer of churches, the building on the southeast corner of Avenue B and 8th Street was dedicated in December 1849.

A view of St. Brigid's, c. 1928, looking across Avenue B from Tompkins Square Park.

NYPL Digital Gallery

Detail from the 1867 Dripps map showing St. Brigid's (labeled R.Ch.) on the corner of Avenue B and 8th Street.

Library of Congress

A recent view of St. Brigid's (from the Save St. Brigid web site).  The steeples were removed in 1962 due to structural concerns.

St. Brigid's recently survived a demolition scare and today is undergoing a massive restoration effort.  To see how you can help save this enormously historic structure, please visit Save St. Brigid.

Read more about the early history of St. Brigid's in The Catholic churches of New York City, with sketches of their history and lives of the present pastors (1878).

Extra credit: Find St. Brigid's in this extraordinary 1913 photo (hat tip to Shorpy's).

Today, Dry Dock Street remains, although its name was changed to Szold Place in 1951 to honor Henrietta Szold, founder of the women's Zionist organization, Hadassah.  The adjacent Dry Dock Playground & Pool is the only neighborhood reminder I could find of this once thriving industry.

 

An Interesting Artifact: Dry Dock Savings Institution

In 1848, the Dry Dock Savings Institution was incorporated to serve the growing population of Dry Dock. There was no other bank east of the Bowery at that time, so the bank grew quickly after opening in a two-story brick building on East 4th Street, just west of Avenue C. The bank merged with Dollar Savings Bank in 1983, and in 1992, Dollar Dry Dock failed due to losses from real estate loans.

The gothic Dry Dock Savings Institution building at Bowery and 3rd Street, designed by Leopold Eidlitz and erected in 1875 (demolished) was actually the bank's third location.
NYPL Digital Gallery

Other Maps 

1832: Detail from the Burr map of the Eleventh Ward.  This early map does not yet show the dry dock, or even Tompkins Square (which opened in 1834).  Also note how severely the shoreline encroaches as far west as Avenue B north of 10th Street.

Rumsey Collection

1846: Detail from the Mitchell map.  The Dry Dock and Dry Dock Street are clearly marked.
Rumsey Collection

Notable References and Original Sources

• History of New York Ship Yards, Morrison, 1909
• Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, Burrows and Wallace, 2000
• Century of American Savings Banks, Manning, 1917
• Catholics in New York: Society, Culture, and Politics, 1808-1946
• THE DOOM NEAR OF OLD "POLITICAL ROW"; New Tenement Invasion in the Famous East Seventh Street (New York Times, May 11, 1902)
• Valentine's Manual of Old New York, 1921 Edition.  In his oft-reprinted article "REMINISCENCES OF THE OLD ELEVENTH WARD," Justice L. A. Giegerich (New York Supreme Court) recounts his childhood in the Eleventh Ward and its transition in the prior 60 years from single- and two-family homes to dense tenements.  (He also references the above Times article.)
• William H. Webb's obituary
  WILLIAM H. WEBB DEAD.; The Well-Known Authority on Marine Architecture and Former Ship Builder Succumbs Suddenly (New York Times, October 31, 1899)



Update: An Amusing Headline, A Family Legend

If you missed the original post, this 1920 article in the New York Times tells the story of a parrot that awakens a tailor's family to a burglar, and the16-year-old daughter, Cecilia, who proceeds to chase him up the street.  The article confirms a bit of my family's lore:

New York Times, February 2, 1920

In the post, I noted some confusion over the article's report that Cecilia's address was 5 Chrystie Street.  The action in the story takes place around Pearl Street and New Bowery, and my grandfather had always said he was born and raised on Pearl Street.

After some investigation (thanks, ancestry.com), I get some answers.  Here is a bit of the 1920 census for the 4th Ward of Manhattan, recorded about a month before the Times article:

The highlighted section shows my father's family, the Shermans.  Here's a detail that clearly shows 16-year-old Cecilia, as well as 12-year-old Edward, my grandfather:

Brothers Alexander and Lawrence are not listed because they were in their twenties at the time and had already left home (they are both listed in the 1910 census).  Perhaps they were just visiting that day.

The number 397 (to the left in the detail) is the family's address on Pearl Street.  In fact, the census reports of 1910, 1920, and 1930 all show the family living at that address.  This is also, presumably, the address of the tailor shop.  So back to the 1911 Bromley map, where the 3-story building they lived in is clearly marked:

NYPL Digital Gallery

The building is also right in the middle of the action that takes place in the Times story.  Unfortunately, I still don't have answer for the 5 Chrystie Street address.  Could just be a reporter's mistake?

Waiting on a Friend

Ed. Note: Okay, so I assume everyone knows this, but just in case...

When I first moved to the East Village I spent most of my time at Downtown Beirut (best jukebox ever) and St. Marks Bar & Grill. I had been here maybe six months when I found myself chatting about the mural on the back wall at St. Marks, and how the Rolling Stones had filmed their video for Waiting on a Friend on St. Marks Place and in the bar itself, and how the band actually played a set in the bar.  I tried to pretend it was old news, but I'm a terrible liar. 

"Wait, you did know that, right?"

Mick walks and Keith staggers into the bar at St. Marks and First Avenue, looking north along the east side of the avenue, screen grab from the Waiting on a Friend video (filmed July 21, 1981, according to the Rolling Stones database).

The same view today.  (Author, 2010)

Another screen grab, the whole band inside the bar.  Ron Wood opened his own short-lived club not far away, on East 4th (west of Second Avenue), in 1990.

While researching this post, I learned something I hadn't heard before.  The video was directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, an early director of musical promo films (that came to be known as videos), whose credits include an extensive library of film, video, and television work, including the iconic video for the Beatles "Hey Jude."

A behind-the-scenes shot.  You can find more here.

There's plenty of other web content about this video shoot along St. Marks between First and A (as was the cover of Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti album, which everyone knows already, of course, right?), so I'll just direct you to Google for more info.

Or visit EV Grieve for info on the recent fire at the Physical Graffiti buildings.

Selling Baked Goods from the Grace Church Yard, and the Birth of the Bread Line

The cornerstone for Grace Church, the iconic landmark at Broadway and 10th Street, was laid on Oct 30, 1843. The land was purchased earlier that year from the estate of Henry Brevoort Sr. for $35,000. The church was designed by James Renwick (age 23 at the time, who later designed St. Patrick's Cathedral) and was consecrated in 1846.

Grace Church, c.1924, looking northeast with Broadway running uptown to the left and 10th Street to the right. Note the yard in the lower right of photo.
NYPL Digital Gallery

But Grace Church's land did not originally stretch to 10th Street as it does today. The lot on the northeast corner of Broadway at 10th Street, just over 39 feet wide, was the site of another well-known building of its day.

A view looking east across Broadway (uptown to the left) at Fleischmann's Vienna Model Bakery c. 1888. Note Grace Church to the left, and the snow of the Great Blizard of '88.
NYPL Digital Gallery

Louis Fleischmann and his brothers, Charles and Max, were Austrian immigrants who introduced "Vienna bread" at their "Vienna Model Bakery" at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The bread and model bakery were a huge hit, and shortly afterwards Fleischmann opened a permanent bakery at 788 Broadway, on the corner of 10th Street.

The bakery and its attached cafe became a popular meeting place and destination for Ladies Mile shoppers (the bakery was located across 10th Street from the "Iron Palace" of A.T. Stewart and later Wanamaker's).  Vienna bread quickly spread around the city, becoming one of the city's earliest food fads.

Fleischmann and his bakeries expanded to other cities, while the yeast company bearing his brothers' name continues to this day.

But Fleischmann is also remembered for a form of charity with which he alone seems credited, the "bread line". As Fleischmann lay on his death bed in 1904 it was noted:

The idea of [the bread line's] establishment came to Mr. Fleischmann when he noticed a crowd of hungry tramps standing over the grating at the bakery at Tenth Street and Broadway, scenting the hot loaves that were being turned out in the basement. Mr. Fleishmann offered to feed one of the men, and soon a line formed.
New York Times (September 25 1904)

Illustration from an article about Fleischmann and the origin of his philanthropy, New York Times (October 2, 1904)

From then on, each night at midnight, a line would form around the block in front of Grace Church to which Mr. Fleischmann would distribute his unsold goods.  It was said that Mr. Fleishmann himself was often seen handing out loaves, along with hot coffee in the winter.

Shortly after Fleischmann's death in 1904, Grace Church acquired the property.

New York Times, February 27, 1906

After the bakery moved its operations to a new location at 11th Street between Broadway and University Place, the bread line continued for years.

A view of the Fleishmann's building c. 1908, shortly before it was demolished. Note the E.Weingarten's sign noting their imminent move to another location.  I always chuckle at the cross-armed police officer sternly watching the photographer, lower right.
NYPL Digital Gallery

Here's a similar view today, via Google Maps.

An Interesting Artifact: The Bend in Broadway

As legend has it, Henry Brevoort Sr., a prominent landowner of the early 1800's, fought the proposed path of Broadway laid out in the 1807 draft of the Commissioner's Plan because it cut directly though his land on a straight line to 23rd Street. It is said that Mr. Brevoort owned a favorite tulip tree under which he enjoyed relaxing and having a smoke. This tree, near the present intersection of Broadway and 10th Street, would need to be cut down to accommodate the new road. To save the tree, Broadway was angled in the direction we know today.

As documented in his fascinating graduate thesis, Reuben Skye Rose-Redwood details the incident that inspired the myth. In 1807, Mr. Brevoort and six other landowners petitioned the commissioners in a letter titled "Reasons of several land holders in Broad Way against the payment of the Sums assessed upon them for Opening the Same.” In fact, the landowners objections had more to do with monetary concerns rather than a tulip tree. The city gave in, the commission made its recommendations, and in 1815 the "bend" became law.

The image above is a detail from the famous Randel Farm Map c. 1819 superimposing the street grid with existing farm boundaries and showing the point where the Bloomingdale Road (the northern route of today's Broadway) meets lower Broadway at 10th Street, bisecting Henry Brevoort's property.

Reference: RATIONALIZING THE LANDSCAPE: SUPERIMPOSING THE GRID UPON THE ISLAND OF MANHATTAN, a thesis in geography by Reuben Skye Rose-Redwood.

References and Sources

• Letter from Henry Brevoort Jr. to the Vestry of Grace Church, negotiating terms of the land deal
• Inside the Apple: A Streetwise History of New York City, Michelle and James Nevius, 2009
• 97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York..., Ziegelman, 2010

New York Times Articles

• LOUIS FLEISCHMANN, PHILANTHROPIST, LOW; Baker and Friend of Hungry May Be Beyond Recovery. ESTABLISHED "BREAD LINE" Had His Own Way of Giving Charity -Was Brave Soldier -- Amassed Substantial Fortune. (New York Times, September 25, 1904)
• UNIQUE AMONG CHARITIES IS "THE BREAD-LINE" (New York Times, October 2, 1904)
• BREAD-LINE CORNER SOLD.; Grace Church Buys the Property as an Investment. (New York Times, January 21, 1905)
• GRACE CHURCH TO SPREAD; BREAD LINE MUST MOVE; Fleischmann Leasehold Will Soon Be Taken Over. NEW BUILDING IN REAR, TOO Broadway Lawn Will Extend to Tenth Street Corner, Giving More Room for Children's Playground. (New York Times, February 27, 1906)
• 1,000 IN BREAD LINE; NOT LOAVES ENOUGH; Last Night's Gathering for Free Loaves Breaks All Records Save One. LINE FOUR BLOCKS LONG And the Bread Gave Out Before More Than Half Had Been Supplied -- Despair for Many. (New York Times, June 8, 1908)
• GRACE CHURCH ENDS ITS 125TH YEAR; At Its Present Site Since 1846, It Has Been Closely Linked With the City's Growth (New York Times, October 22, 1933) 

A.T. Stewart, John Wanamaker, the Great Fire, and the Great Flood (Part II)

Ed. Note: If you missed Part I, you can check it out here.

In 1954, Wanamaker's announced it would close its store complex on the blocks between 4th Avenue and Broadway, 8th and 10th Streets, citing a new focus on suburban stores.  The older store, the 1862 A.T. Stewart "Iron Palace" was already being used as offices, having been leased to the U.S. Goverment some years earlier.  In December 1954, the store closed its doors.

In March 1956, a group acquired the site of the "Iron Palace" with plans to build a complex of 478 apartments.  Demolition began a few months later, scheduled to take four months.  Then on July 14, a massive fire broke out.

An amazing newsreel from British Pathé. Click the image to view the video, or go here to launch the video on its own page.

The Times reported the blaze took 25 hours to control with 187 firefighters hurt.  The Broadway BMT subway (today's N/R) and the Lexington IRT (today's 4/5/6) were closed, as were the surrounding streets, including Broadway and 4th Avenue.  Thousands of site-seers surrounded the site to catch a glimpse of the calamity:

There was plenty to see...The area within Twelfth Street on the north, Eighth Street and Astor Place on the south, University Place on the west and Third Avenue on the east resembled a hastily constructed battle scene...From the gray stone pile of the Wanamaker building, which resembled a gaping, bombed-out shell, billowed acrid smoke, intermittently shot through with licks of flame.
New York Times, July 16, 1956

Crowds gather to watch the fire in two shots by photographer Robert Frank.

The top photo seems to be taken from 9th Street at 4th Avenue looking downtown (note the Cooper Union Foundation Building in the background).

I haven't been able to pinpoint this second photo, although I have some ideas. Guesses?

With an estimated 50,000,000 gallons of water used on the fire, the Astor Place station was completely flooded.  The track foundation for the IRT line was washed away, and the Transit Authority feared that 4th Avenue might itself collapse.  The BMT and IRT lines were completely shut down for two days and normal service was not restored for five days.  A week later, 4th Avenue remained closed from 8th Street to 11th Street as repairs continued.

July 1956: A great shot of the construction activity in Astor Place after the flood, taken from the northwest corner of 9th Street and 4th Avenue.  Note the scaffolding at the far left from the demolition of another landmark, Bible House, underway at the same time.  Also note the billboard advertising the 1955-56 World's Fair in the Dominican Republic instead of the Coca-Cola display made famous by Rudy Burckhardt.
The Miracle of Astor Place, Transit Magazine, November 1956

Foundation work for the Stewart House apartments began in April 1959 and the project was completed in 1960.

A view of Wanamaker's "new building" in 1933.  This view looks west across 4th Avenue and Lafayette Street. The building survives today as 770 Broadway and home to KMart.
Ryerson & Burnham Collection

Here's the building today.

Some stills worth noting from the British Pathé newsreel:

• At 0:36: Appears to be looking down Broadway (east side) across 8th Street at the corner where the Gap now stands (it was a Manhattan Savings Bank in 1956).
• At 0:42: A ghostly image looking up 4th Avenue from 9th to 10th Streets, note the shadow of the Con Ed tower in the upper right.

New York Times References

Coverage of the Wanamaker's store closing and sale by the New York Times:

• An announcement of the closing of the store:
  Wanamaker to Close Main Store After 58 Years on Broadway Site; JOHN WANAMAKER WILL CLOSE STORE (October 26, 1954)
• Stories of the final customers and Wanamaker's staff:
  Bell Tolls Closing of Wanamaker's As Saddened Staff Toils to the End; BELL TOLLS CLOSE OF WANAMAKER'S (December 19, 1954)
• The buildings are sold to an investment syndicate:
  3 PROPERTIES SOLD BY WANAMAKER'S; Syndicate Plans Apartments for One Block, Conversion to Offices for Another (January 17, 1955)
• A group purchases the northern site to build apartments:
  BUILDERS ACQUIRE WANAMAKER SITE; Syndicate Gets North Block of Old Store Property for Apartments TO HOUSE 478 FAMILIES (March 18, 1956)

Coverage of the Wanamaker's fire by the New York Times, July 15-19, 1956:

• WANAMAKER FIRE IMPERILS IRT LINE; 77 HURT AT SCENE; Service Between Brooklyn Bridge and Grand Central Stations Is Halted 'COLLAPSE' THREATENED Police Doubt Subway Pillars Will Stand--Cavanagh Fears Street Buckle (July 15, 1956)
• EAST SIDE IRT AND BMT KNOCKED OUT BY WATER IN FIRE AT WANAMAKER'S; 187 FIREMEN HURT IN 25-HOUR FIGHT; STATIONS FLOODED Service on IRT South to 23d St. Due to Be Restored Today Foundations to Be Checked WANAMAKER FIRE HALTS SUBWAYS (July 16, 1956)
• Traffic Jams Are Expected Today in Area of Wanamaker Fire; AUTOS REROUTED OFF FOURTH AVE. Transit Unit Fears Roadway May Collapse Because of Flood in Subway Tunnel (July 16, 1956)
• Big Downtown Fire Draws Thousands; Defense Workers Help Police With Crowds; TRAFFIC REDUCED TO A MERE CRAWL (July 16, 1956)
• BMT TIE-UP ENDED; FULL IRT REPAIRS MAY TAKE 3 WEEKS; Train Stalled by Wanamaker Fire Is Hauled Out in a Daring Maneuver STATION IS PUMPED OUT (July 17, 1956)
• IRT at Astor Place Gets Concrete Bed (July 19, 1956) 
• WANAMAKER SITE QUIET.; Viewers at Scene of Fire Dwindle to a Few (July 23, 1956)

Sleepers

In 1996, the Barry Levinson film Sleepers opened with an all-star cast and good reviews.  A scene that establishes the story involves a hot dog cart careening down the stairs of a subway station.  If you look closely, you'll see the scene was filmed at the Astor Place station.  Note the period of the cars and dress; the scene takes place in the mid/late 60's.  Some screen grabs are below.

The kids push the stolen hot dog cart around the corner at 9th Street, headed downtown on 4th Avenue.  You can see Chris French Cleaners on Google.

A view from the bottom of the stairs at the uptown side of the Astor Place station, looking up at the kiosk.

The kids struggle to keep control of the cart.  Note the Wanamaker's building (770 Broadway) and the Stewart House apartments in the background.

I wonder if I'm the only one who found it amusing that these kids pushed that cart all the way from Hell's Kitchen (where they lived) to Astor Place.  Or is that what they mean by "suspension of disbelief."

You can see this scene on YouTube.  Look for an effects shot that makes a downtown view of Astor Place look like Times Square.

Coming Soon...

• A.T. Stewart, John Wanamaker, the Great Fire, and the Great Flood (Part II)
• Selling Baked Goods from the Grace Church Yard, and the Birth of the Breadline
• Dry Dock, Shipyards, and St. Brigid's

A.T. Stewart, John Wanamaker, the Great Fire, and the Great Flood (Part I)

Ed. Note: Part II of this post is here.

A.T. Stewart, considered by many to be the father of the modern department store, opened his immense flagship store in 1862 on the block sided by 9th and 10th Streets, Broadway and 4th Avenue.  Known as the "Iron Palace" (in contrast with Stewart's original store, the "Marble Palace", which opened in 1846 on lower Broadway), the store was the anchor of the new "Ladies Mile" retail district.  Stewart located his store to take advantage of the uptown movement of the elite to neighborhoods surrounding Union Square and Washington Square.

One of the earliest buildings to employ a cast iron facade, the new technology provided greater window area and natural light.  The building was designed by John Kellum and estimated to cost $2.75 million, and quickly became a tourist marvel.

View of the "Iron Palace" c. 1868 shortly after opening and before the extension, looking southeast with 10th Street to the left (looking east) and Broadway downtown to the right.  Note the two buildings to the right on the corner of Broadway and 9th Street (right).
Wikipedia

Another view before the 1870 extension, looking along the east side of Broadway uptown from 9th Street.  Note Grace Church, left, in the background.
NYPL Digital Gallery

I noticed that early photos of the building showed that its southern side did not extend to its ultimate border on 9th Street.  An extension was completed in 1870, apparently after additional lots or leaseholds were acquired.

•  A. T. Stewart's Dry Goods Palace-Opening of the New Extension (New York Times, March 29, 1870)  

Fully complete after the 1870 extension, looking at the northeast corner of Broadway (uptown to the left) and 9th Street (east to the right).  Note the 9th Street loading dock.

NYPL Digital Gallery

After Stewart's death in 1876 (he was buried at St. Marks Church in-the-Bowery and his remains were stolen and ransomed soon afterward, but that's another story), the business continued on until 1882 when it became Hilton, Hughes & Co (formed by associates of Stewart).  Hilton, Hughes failed in August 1896, and in September of that year, the building was acquired by John Wanamaker, a retailer from Philadelphia.

• BOUGHT BY MR. WANAMAKER; THE OLD A.T. STEWART STORE TO BE REOPENED (New York Times, September 29, 1896)
• BIDS SHOPPERS WELCOME; MR. WANAMAKER'S NEW STORE IN THIS CITY OPENED (New York Times, November 26, 1896)  

 

View looking to the northwest from 4th Avenue (uptown to the right) and 9th Street (west to the left).  Note the pedestrian "Bridge of Progress" over 9th Street (left of photo).
Museum of the City of New York (Berenice Abbott, 1936)

Wanamaker spent the next several years assembling lots on the block just south of his building, bordered by 8th and 9th Street, 4th Avenue and Broadway, before announcing in 1902 he would build a new building on that site.  Wanamaker planned to take advantage of the new IRT subway (under construction at the time), and made arrangements for the Astor Place station to open directly into the basement of his building. 

• NEW WANAMAKER STORE; To Be Built on Block South of the Present Establishment (New York Times, December 21, 1902)

According to the NOHO Historic District Report:

Pivotal to the commercial stability of the district was the 1903 decision of Wanamaker's Department Store to build an annex to its store at Broadway and 9th Street. At a time when many department stores were relocating uptown, Wanamaker's expansion demonstrated the retailer's commitment to the area. The store's convenient location within a block of the Astor Place station of the new IRT subway, construction, may have played a part in the decision. Wanamaker engaged the D. H.Burnham & Company of Chicago to design the fourteen-story annex at 756-770 Broadway (1903-07). Clad mostly in terra cotta, this Renaissance Revival style shopping palace contained thirty-two acres of retail space and occupied the entire block when finally completed.
NOHO Historic District, nyc.gov

The Wanamaker's "annex" building still stands today, although we know it as 770 Broadway, or the KMart building (and the basement is still accessible from the Astor Place station).  The building is corporate home to America Online and J.Crew, among others.  The original "Iron Palace" no longer stands, and in Part II I'll look at its demise.

A view looking south on Broadway showing the original A.T. Stewart "Iron Palace" (center) and the new Wanamaker's annex (background).

The "Bridge of Progress" connecting the two Wanamaker's buildings over 9th Street between 4th Avenue and Broadway, c. 1924 (looking west).
NYPL Digital Gallery

Some other articles from the New York Times:

• A.T. Stewart death announcement and obituary
  DEATH OF A.T. STEWART.; CAREER OF THE MERCHANT PRINCE (April 11, 1876)
• A.T. Stewart & Co. announces it is going out of business
  RETIRING FROM BUSINESS; THE FIRM OF A.T. STEWART & CO. WINDING UP AFFAIRS (April 16, 1882)

View looking northwest from 9th Street and 4th Avenue, the site of the 1862 A.T. Stewart building, now the Stewart House cooperative apartments.  (Author, 2010)

9th Street between 4th Avenue and Broadway is also known as "Wanamaker Place".  (Author, 2010)

An Interesting Artifact

The Lafayette Street traffic pattern we know today--past Astor Place, slight jog to the right, then merging up 4th Avenue--was apparently made possible by the construction of the Wanamaker annex and the Astor Place subway station.  Maps prior to the construction connect Cooper Square (west side) directly to 4th Avenue (as it does today), but Lafayette Street effectively dead ends at 8th Street.

From Bromley, 1891.  Note the marked triangular area which comprises an extension to Lafayette Street today.  Also note the "Hilton Hughes" name in the upper left; this map was drawn after the 1882 transfer of the A.T. Stewart company, and before the Wanamaker acquisition.

From Randall & Blackwell, 1867.  Note A.T. Stewart store.
NYPL Digital Library

From Bromwell 1899.  Note the Iron Palace (555) is now labeled John Wanamaker.
NYPL Digital Library

From Bromwell 1916.  The annex is complete and the lot trimmed to the line we know today.
NYPL Digital Library

An Amusing Headline, A Family Legend

Ed. Note: Okay, so this story is a little off geographically, but it's my blog and I wanted to share.

My father came for a visit recently and recounted a family story I had never heard before.  As it was told to him, his grandfather owned a tailor shop on the Lower East Side that made police uniforms.  The family, living above the shop, had a parrot to warn them if someone tried to break in.  One night, the parrot began to squawk, "Gotta gun, gotta gun, call the police, gotta gun," someone called the police, and a burglar was captured.

Well a story like that, I thought, might have made the papers.  Jumping on the computer, I quickly found the link and printed it for my father, who began to giggle.  His amazement and amusement at having this nearly 100-year-old bizarre family legend confirmed in the black-and-white of the New York Times continued for hours.

So here's the real story, from page 5 of the New York Times, February 2, 1920:

Download the PDF here.

The girl in the headline, 16 year old Cecilia Sherman, is my grandfather's sister, or as I knew her, "crazy" Aunt Ceil.  (If you read the article, you can see she really may have been nuts.)  I remember visiting her when I was as a kid at her apartment on the Upper West Side.

Interested in knowing more about this bit of family history, I also focused on this portion of the story:

...started off for the Oak Street station, half a block away...At Pearl Street and the Bowery she caught up with the prisoner...at New Chambers Street she again caught up with him...  

Bromley map c. 1911 that includes all of the mentioned streets.
NYPL Digital Gallery

I'm assuming that the story uses the shorthand "Bowery" for the street that was mapped as "New Bowery".

Bromley map c. 1911 detail showing location of the Oak Street Station at no. 9.
NYPL Digital Gallery

While trying to find some contemporary photos of the neighborhood, I found that many of the referenced streets simply no longer exist, nor do any of the surrounding neighborhoods.  The neighborhoods were razed and some of the streets demapped from the 1940's through the 1960's for a variety of projects, including ramps connecting the FDR Drive to the Brooklyn Bridge, the construction of One Police Plaza, and the opening of the massive Alfred E. Smith Houses in 1953.

Specifically:

• Oak Street was demapped around 1947
• New Chambers was demapped between 1947 and 1966
• New Bowery is the present St. James Place (as of 1947)
• Pearl Street remains mostly unchanged

Source: Old Streets

A comparison from Google Maps and the c. 1911 Bromley map.

I'm confused by the reference to 5 Chrystie Street as the home of Cecilia Sherman.  My grandfather (Ceil's brother) always said he was born and grew up on Pearl Street.  5 Chrystie Street is nowhere near the other places in the story, so something seems amiss with that address.

This is one I'll continue to research...

Bible House and Book Row

The 1853 Bible House was the headquarters of the American Bible Society.  It occupied the full block where the Cooper Union engineering building now stands (between Astor Place and 9th Street, Third and Fourth Avenues).  It has the distinction of being the city's first cast iron-framed building, and in its day was quite the tourist attraction.

1904 view of Bible House with 4th Avenue (uptown) to the left, Astor Place (east) to the right.

King's Photographic Views of New York

During [1853] the ABS relocated from its modest Nassau Street headquarters to a grand and fashionable uptown location on Astor Place. The new five-story ‘‘Bible House’’ constituted an architectural, technological, and administrative marvel. Occupying a full city block, the cast-iron structure included a salesroom, modern printing facility, and extensive bindery. Financed by contributions from the wealthiest and most prominent Christians in New York, its completion announced the American Bible Society’s arrival as one of the most powerful and significant reform organizations in the nation. Thousands of Christian tourists annually visited the ABS, and even Mark Twain observed after an exploration of the Bible House "that I enjoyed the time more than I could possibly have done in any circus."

A ‘‘Special Collection’’ in Nineteenth-Century New York: The American Bible Society and Its Library, Peter J. Wosh and Lorraine A. Coons

A view of the Cooper Union Foundation Building, with the striking red brick of Bible House in the background (looking uptown along Cooper Square/4th Avenue)

The Bible House was primarily a publishing facility, producing tens of millions of bibles in many languages during its lifetime.  According to Christopher Gray, it was one of the magnets that brought publishers, libraries, and bookstores to the Cooper Square/4th Avenue corridor, and according to Mondlin and Meador, its pending demolition marked the beginning of the end of the "book row":

A short distance south of the Strand, the Bible House on Fourth Avenue, which over the years had been so friendly to bookshops, was scheduled for demolition, which compelled four book businesses -- Astor Place Magazine and Bookshop, Colonial Book Service, Eureka Bookshop and Leon Kramer -- to find accommodations elsewhere.

Up the street from the Bible House, the Strand and four other bookstores -- Arcadia Bookshop, Friendly Book and Music Shop, Louis Schucman, Wex's Book Shop -- confronted the same fate when the buildings on the east side of Fourth Avenue between 10th and 11th Streets were sold.

Book Row: An Anecdotal and Pictorial History of the Antiquarian Book Trade

Bible House street-level scene, c. 1935, along 4th Avenue (uptown to the left)

NYPL Digital Gallery

A view from 9th Street, looking west across Third Avenue, mid-1950's.  If you look closely you can see a "Sale" sign in one of the ground floor retailers along Third Avenue--This photo was probably taken mere months before demolition of the Bible House began.
By the El, by Lawrence Stelter

From the NY Times (April 2, 1956)

• 1853 BIBLE HOUSE TO BE DEMOLISHED; Wreckers Start Work Today on City's First Building With Iron Framework

The engineering building on the site of the Bible House is scheduled to be demolished and replaced by a mixed-use office and retail building.




An Interesting Artifact, the Stuyvesant Street Roadbed

The construction of the Cooper Union engineering building in the late 1950's caused a change in the route of Astor Place/Stuyvesant Street, which were once connected across Third Avenue.  As shown in the first map, c. 1911, the Bible House (in the center of the map), has minimal frontage on Third Avenue, and the line of Stuyvesant Street continues across Third Avenue to Astor Place:

NYPL Digital Gallery

Today, as we know (and according to the current NYC tax map below), Astor Place feeds into St. Marks Place and Stuyvesant Street is disconnected.  The lot populated by the engineering building (and the attached cafe) is more squared than that of the Bible House.

The extra land was acquired by Cooper Union for "academic purposes," although a look from Google shows that the main building does not sit on the land (only the cafe nee Starbucks).  The developers of the new building, Minskoff Equities, are required (so they say) to return this reclaimed roadbed in the form of a public plaza so that the line of Stuyvesant Street will be restored into Astor Place:

[The agreement with Cooper Union] called for 3,950 square feet of space roughly along the lines of the true east-west Stuyvesant St. roadbed to be a public plaza, the design of which is to be approved by City Planning.