The narrow W. h. Jackson Building towered above his neighbors. from the collection of the Library of Congress (cropped)
In the first years after the Civil War, commerce began invading the refined residential Union Square neighborhood. The mansions that ringed the park--with its iron fencing and ornamental fountain--were converted one-by-one to high end shops as their former residents fled northward. In as early as 1872, William H. Jackson owned the high-stoop brownstone at 31 East 17th Street, home to the headquarters of W. H. Jackson & Co.
Seen here in 1880, 31 East 17th Street (to the left of the tall Century Company Building) retained much of its domestic appearance. Only the parlor floor had been altered. from the collection of the New York Public Library
In 1890, architect William Harvey Birkmire, the staff architect for W. H. Jackson & Co., filed plans to replace the vintage mansion and the property behind it on 18th Street with an 11-story, $100,000 office building. Birkmire was a pioneer in "curtain wall" construction and in his 1893 Skeleton Construction In Buildings described the W. H. Jackson Building in detail.
Real Estate Record & Builder's Guide, October 25, 1890 (copyright expired)
Completed in June 1892, the W. H. Jackson Building was would be called a "sliver building" today. Birkmire's design was a blending of Romanesque Revival and German Renaissance styles. Birkmire congratulated his design saying it had "a commanding character in spite of its narrowness." The lower three floors, dominated by a three-story arch, were clad in cast iron molded to imitate stone. Inside, said Birkmire, "The stairs are finished with cast-iron ornamental strings and wrought-iron railings with marble treads, the passenger elevators with wrought-iron scroll grilles and cast-iron transoms."
The abundance of ornamental ironwork was not surprising. Founded in 1827, by Nathan H. Jackson, W. H. Jackson & Co. (known over the years as several names, including Wm. H. Jackson & Co. and Jackson Architectural Iron Works) designed and manufactured iron fireplace grates, architectural railings and other items. The firm's success eventually brought commissions to design and produce the doors of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and the Bowery Savings Bank.
An 1891 complementary Wm. H. Jackson & Co. calendar pictured a decorative fireplace fender. (copyright expired)
Even as the upper floors were still under construction, the ground floor space was advertised for rent. On December 2, 1891, an ad touted the "handsome large store, 28 x 184, just finished." For potential occupants of the upper floors, the ad described "swift-running passenger and freight elevators. Steam heat and power. Complete system of electricity."
The store was taken by a long-term Union Square fixture, Brentano's bookstore. The firm had occupied a converted mansion on the west side of the park for years.
The Evening Post, December 19, 1892 (copyright expired)
Other tenants included at least two architectural firms. Cady, Berg & See occupied offices by 1895. The firm had designed important structures like the Museum of Natural History and the Metropolitan Opera House. Esteemed architect George B. Post worked from the W. H. Jackson Building by 1897.
Several tenants were involved in the publishing industry. Cassell Publishing Company issued Cassell's Family Magazine here by 1895. At the turn of the century, the Ridgway Company published Everybody's Magazine here, and on March 17, 1906, The New York Times reported,
The group of publishers around Union Square--The Century Company, Baker, Taylor & Co., Brentano's, Doubleday, Page & Co., and Everybody's Magazine--will shortly be joined by Moffatt, Yard & Co., whose new offices will be at 31 East Seventeenth Street, the Jackson Building, where they will have more room for the growing business.
That year Moffatt, Yard & Co. published Behind the Scenes With Animals, the author of which was another W. H. Jackson Building tenant. Ellen Velvin's office would remain in the building at least through 1914. Born in 1862 in Plymouth, England, she was a prolific author, often writing about wildlife.
The W. H. Jackson Building is seen in this 1910 postcard. from the collection of the New York Public Library
Another publishing house, Robert M. McBride & Co., would occupy space by 1913.
In the meantime, William Henry Jackson died in November 1908 at the age of 79. The firm ceased operation the following year.
William Henry Jackson, from Biographical Directory of the State of New York, 1900 (copyright expired)
Another tenant in the first years of the 20th century was The Regina Co., which produced and sold "pneumatic cleaners," known today as vacuum cleaners. An advertisement in 1911 promised that Regina cleaners "have solved the 'Spring Housecleaning' problem in thousands of homes."
In 1913, Kyoto Manufacturing Co., a Japanese-based importer, moved in. Also occupying space in the building at the time were the Travel Club of America and Tilton & Keeler, dealers of "color cards."
The Sun, October 1, 1919 (copyright expired)
Three new tenants moved into the W. H. Jackson Building in 1917. Owens-Kreiser Co., a toy manufacturer, leased the sixth floor; Winsor & Newton, Inc., "dealers of artists' colors," moved in; and the tenth floor was leased to the Camp Fire Girls.
Founded in 1910 by husband and wife team, Dr. Luther Halsey Gulick and Charlotte Vetter Gulick, the Camp Fire Girls was the first non-sectarian organization for girls in the country. In addition to camaraderie and fun, the girls learned domestic skills. On December 21, 1924, The New York Times remarked, "The next generation is assured of [being] able to cook a well-balanced meal, wash dishes and do a turn at the washboard." The article explained that to earn their homecraft honors during the past year, "They have cooked and served at least two Sunday dinners while their mothers have rested; they have cared for a baby at least an average of one hour a day for a month and they have made four kinds of biscuits."
By 1921, the Camp Fire Girls had expanded into the 11th floor, as well. On December 20 that year, The Evening World reported, "The Camp Fire Girls who are mending broken toys to give to poor children, want more toys to mend and give." The girls' toy drive had already resulted in the Italian-Chilean baritone Renato Zanelli of the Metropolitan Opera Company donating 25 new dolls.
image from the collection of the Library of Congress.
In 1893, William Harvey Birkire had boasted that his W. H. Jackson Building, "is entirely fireproof." But on March 11, 1928, The New York Times reported, "Three women and more than twenty men were rescued yesterday afternoon by elevator operators in a fire in the eleven-story Jackson loft building, at Union Square North and East Seventeenth Street." The fire had started in the fifth floor in the toy and doll factory of Nadel & Shimmel. Owens-Kreiseler Company still occupied the sixth floor and the flammable celluloid used by both firms in making dolls fueled the blaze. The ensuing three-alarm inferno gutted the fifth through eleventh floors, including the Camp Fire Girls headquarters on the top two.
At one point, said the article, "two flights of steel stairs, from the ninth to the eleventh floor, collapsed. At first it was feared that a squad of firemen had been trapped, but all were found to be safe."
Almost two years to the day, on March 9, 1930, The New York Times reported on a second fire in the Jackson Building. In a tragic case of déjà vu, the fire once again started in the Nadel & Shimmel factory. "Firemen who responded to the first alarm turned in additional alarms when they found celluloid dolls and other celluloid toys," said The New York Times.
This time, the owners did not repair the upper floors. The Work Progress Administration's New York City Guide explained in 1939, "The decreased demand for industrial floor area and the increased number of vacancies, in the years following the financial crisis of 1929, led to the popularity of a new type of structure--the taxpayer...Such an example is at 31 East Seventeenth Street, a two-story structure of cream brick and panels."
The stump of the W. H. Jackson Building had been remodeled as a low-rise Art Moderne structure, including glass block and vast windows, made possible by William H. Birkmire's skeleton construction.
image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services
In 2005, the little building was given a gut renovation and a new glass and steel facade. No hint is left to suggest for the passerby that this is the remnant of one of the earliest skyscrapers in Manhattan.
image via LoopNet.com
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