The 1887 Michael Hughes House - 365 West 123rd Street

 

The blocks just east of Morningside Park saw a flurry of construction in the 1880s.  In 1886, real estate developer Samuel H. Bailey purchased "the lots on the northeast corner of Ninth avenue and One Hundred and Twenty-third street," as reported by the Record & Guide and hired architect Charles E. Baxter to design a row of brownstone-faced houses on the site.  Completed on April 30, 1887, the neo-Grec-style homes were three stories tall above high English basements.  Baxter blended touches of Queen Anne into his design.  Instead of the striking copper oriels seen at the second floor of the other houses, the end homes, including 365 West 123rd Street, featured full-height angled bays.

That house became home to the Michael Hughes family.  He and his wife, the former Mary A. O'Grady, had four children, three sons and a daughter.  

The two rows of stylized acanthus leaves that decorate the cornice enhanced the Greek motif.

Hughes joined dozens of men who were "engaged in business in the northern part of the city of New York" in signing a petition to the Common Council on November 27, 1895.  Pointing out that the district "lying north of One Hundred and Twenty-fifth street and fronting the Harlem river is a rapidly growing locality," they complained that the riverfront was not keeping up.  The businessmen asked for "wharves and dock facilities" which would make merchandise more easily received.

Mary was looking for a servant in September 1897.  The wording of her ad suggested the girl would not have an easy workday.  "Strong girl for general housework."

Nearly a half century after moving into the house, Michael Hughes died on March 26, 1921.  His funeral was held in Annunciation Church three days later.  

image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Mary A. Hughes advertised 365 West 123rd Street for sale the following summer.  Her ad in the New York Herald read, "House, brownstone, 10 rooms, fine condition; could be used by two families."  It was purchased by Michael T. Reilly and his wife Catherine.  

In the fall of 1940, the Daily News challenged housewives to be a "pigskin clairvoyant" by picking the weekend's football game winners.  Of the 117,263 entries who guessed the outcome of the November 30 games, Catherine Reilly received the third prize of $25.

Michael T. Reilly sold 365 West 123rd Street in September 1941 to Thelma York for $5,500 (about $117,000 in 2026 terms).  She and her family lived here nine years, selling the house to Jacob Goodman & Co. in April 1950.

When Daisy Hatcher purchased it two years later, The New York Times described the property as a "four-story rooming house."  Among the roomers living here that year was musician and band leader Rudolph "Rudy" King.

Born in Trinidad, Rudy King introduced the steel pan to the United States in 1949.  The evolution of the steel pan began in Trinidad when empty cans were struck with bamboo shoots, according to King in an interview later.  He organized a band called the Tropican.  

Of the original row of six homes, three survive, including 365 West 123rd Street.  Greatly intact on the exterior, a renovation completed in 1989 resulted in a two-family home.''

photographs by the author