The Lost 1827 Azariah Ross House - 45 Dominick Street

 

image from the collection of the New-York Historical Society

Born in 1787 in New Jersey, Azariah Ross served in the War of 1812, then became a significant architect, real estate developer and builder (although he consistently understated his profession in directories as "mason").  On March 11, 1826, he purchased a substantial amount of rural land from Robert M. Livingston.  The deed demanded Ross "to convey it as a street to the Corporation" [i.e., the city] within 18 months, "otherwise it reverts to R. M. Livingston."  The new street would be named Dominick Street, after George Dominick, a French-born vestryman of Trinity Church.

Ross quickly developed Dominick Street with prim, brick-faced Federal-style houses, two-and-a-half stories tall.  He moved his family into one of the first, the 20-foot-wide 45 Dominick Street, and used it as his base of operation.  An advertisement in the New-York Evening Post on May 3, 1827, offered, "To Let, 3 elegant two story brick Houses in Dominick near Hudson street.  Possession given immediately.  Inquire of assessor, 45 Dominick street."

The mention of "assessor" referred to Ross's other profession.  In addition to his substantial development and real estate operation, he was one of the two Assessors of the Eighth Ward.  On June 22, 1827, the New-York Evening Post reported, "Public notice is hereby given that the Assessors of the Eighth Ward have completed their assessments, and that a copy thereof is left with Azariah Ross, 45 Dominick street, where the same may be seen and examined by any of the inhabitants."  (Today, no doubt, eyebrows would be raised if the builder and seller of many of the properties was also trusted with appraising their values.)

Azariah Ross was married to the former Elsie Van Buskirk.  When they moved into 45 Dominick Street they had two children, Edwin, who was eight years old, and Theodore, who was five.  Elsie was pregnant at the time, and Amelia was born in the house that year.  A fourth child, Leander, would arrive in 1834.  The family had a summer home in Rockland County.

By 1830, Ross had been appointed a Commissioner of Estimate and Assessment.  He continue his construction and architectural work, as well.  He would work with Frederick Law Olmstead and Calvert Vaux in the design and construction of the stone bridges of Central Park, for instance, and in the stonework at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

On December 13, 1839, Ross sold his home and the abutting house at 43 Dominick Street at auction.  (He would design and erect a striking Gothic Revival mansion at South Nyack, New York in 1856, where his family increasingly spent time.)

The Dominick Street house was purchased by Charles L. Vose, a merchant at 28 South Street.  His residency would be relatively short.  When he advertised 45 Dominick Street in 1845, he boasted that it "is in complete order and has all the modern improvements, Croton water, &c., probably the most convenient house in the city."

The mention of Croton water was significant.  It meant that 45 Dominick Street was one of the earliest to have running water.  The Croton Reservoir on Murray Hill (site of today's New York Public Library) had opened only three years earlier.

For nearly two decades, 45 Dominick Street saw a succession of occupants who most likely rented the house.  Then in 1863 it  would become the long-time home of the Townsend Carpenter family.  

Carpenter was born in Purchase, New York in 1800.  He and his wife, Phebe, who were married in Purchase on October 5, 1823, were members of the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers.  After relocating to New York City, they continued to maintain a home in Purchase, a Quaker community founded by John Harrison in 1695.  

Townsend Carpenter was a wholesale grocer at 808 Spring Street.  He and Phebe had three children, Isaac Thorne, born in 1825; David R., born two years later; and Adelia Augusta, born in 1829.    

On June 29, 1868, one month after Townsend's 68th birthday, he died "suddenly," according to The New York Times.  The term most often referred to a heart attack or stroke.  His death notice reflected the phraseology of the Society of Friends:

His friends and relatives are respectfully invited to attend his funeral, from his late residence, No. 45 Dominick-st., at 4 o'clock on Fourth Day (Wednesday) afternoon, and at Friends meeting house, Purchace [sic], at 11 o'clock Fifth Day morning.

The family was in Purchase on September 1, 1884, when Phebe Carpenter died at the age of 79.  Her funeral was held there, the notice in the New-York Tribune noting, "Carriages in waiting at White Plains Depot on arrival of the 8:30 a.m. train out of New-York."

Isaac T. Carpenter had taken over the operation of the family's grocery business.  Neither he nor Adelia married and lived quietly in the Dominick Street house for the rest of their lives.  The New-York Tribune mentioned that in his leisure time, Isaac was a member of the Manhattan Chess Club.

Around 1896, Isaac suffered a stroke.  Paralyzed, he was "confined to the house in care of nurses," according to the New-York Tribune.  Calling him, "one of the oldest residents of Greenwich Village," on December 17, 1902 the New-York Tribune reported that Isaac T. Carpenter had died. He was 77 years old.   The newspaper mentioned that he, "lived with a sister nearly as old."  There was no funeral in the Dominick house.  Instead, the body was directly transported to Purchase where the funeral was held in the Friends' Meeting House.

Amelia Augusta Carpenter lived on alone until November 19, 1915, when she died at the age of 87.  The New-York Tribune noted, "For the last fifty-two years she had been a resident of Greenwich Village, living during the entire period in the house where she died."  Like her family members before her, her funeral was held in the Friends' Meeting House in Purchase.

The extensive Carpenter real estate holdings was revealed the following year when Isaac T. Carpenter's estate was liquidated.  The auction in April 1916 included tenement buildings, factories, numerous houses, and vacant lots throughout the New York area and even a dwelling in Bar Harbor, Maine.  The Real Estate Record & Guide noted that Carpenter's will directed the proceeds to go to "over twenty-five charities as beneficiaries, including many hospitals."

Following World War I, William Sloane Coffin purchased many of the overlooked vintage structures in the neighborhood.  Included was 45 Dominick Street, which he leased to the Spring Street Church for its parsonage.  On April 18, 1920, The Sun noted (with one glaringly inaccurate historic detail), 

Mr. Coffin's first activity in the rehabilitation of Greenwich Village started seven or eight years ago, when he remodelled [sic] the parsonage of the Spring Street Church at 45 Dominick street.  This old house, like others in the neighborhood, has the quaint dormers and interesting Colonial doorway.  It is, as in the case of the others, built substantially of brick, with brownstone copings and a low front stoop with iron railings, and in this case, wrought iron posts [that] indicated the fact that at some time in its history, it was occupied by a Mayor of New York.

The same year of the article, construction began on the massive Holland Tunnel project that wiped out blocks of vintage structures.  The venerable Azariah Ross house, however, escaped the carnage by a mere block.  Nevertheless, in 1927, 45 Dominick along with the structures stretching to the corner of Varick Street, were demolished for a parking lot.

In 1954, a shed was erected on the parking lot to shelter the vehicles.  via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services. 

Construction began in 2006 of the 46-story Trump SoHo hotel on the site, engulfing the blockfront of Varick Street from Spring Street to Dominick Street.  The building was opened in 2008 and renamed the Dominick Hotel in 2017.