The Lost 1872 Van Rensselaer Building - 476 Broadway

from the collection of the Library of Congress

When the two identical Federal-style houses at 474 and 476 Broadway were erected around 1825, the block between Grand and Broome Streets was genteel.  But by the end of the Civil War, commerce had invaded the formerly residential district and both houses had been converted to businesses.

A variety of businesses operated from the former homes in the 1860s.  from the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In 1871, Alexander Van Rensselaer purchased the properties and hired 44-year-old architect Richard Morris Hunt to design a store and loft building on the site.  

Nineteen years earlier, Jacob Wrey Mould had arrived in New York City from England.  Having studied with influential architect Owen Jones, Mould brought with him a passion for Moorish architecture and the use of bold, primary colors.  It is tempting to assume that it was Mould's conspicuous work that influenced Hunt's exotic design for the Van Rensselaer building.

Completed in 1872, the five-story structure was faced in cast iron.  Its polychromed facade included Moorish-style horseshoe arches, multifoil arches and pencil-like columns.  Hunt embellished the cast iron with decorative, additional materials.  American Architect & Building described it on June 10, 1876 saying, "The panels are filled with porcelain decorated with arabesques, the shafts of the columns are incased in brass and nickel-plated drums; and the mouldings, etc., are painted with various colors."

 

Signed "R. M. Hunt," the architect's rendering is in the collection of the Library of Congress.

The major tenant of the new building was the newly-founded silk goods and dry goods jobbers, Rice, Goodwin, Walker & Co.  The company started out well, The New York Times remarking on December 24, 1874 that it, "transacted during the first year and a half of its existence a considerable amount of business."  

Then came the Financial Panic of 1893.  Like the stock market crash in 1929, the economic depression resulted in the closure of the  New York Stock Exchange and the ruination of a multitude of businesses and banks.  On December 24, 1874, The New York Times reported that the failure of Rice, Goodwin, Walker & Co. "created no little excitement."  The news traveled throughout the nation and on the same day, the Wyoming newspaper The Cheyenne Daily Leader noted, "The firm intended to go out of business at the close of the year."  

American Architect and Building News, July 15, 1876 (copyright expired)

The "fancy goods and notions" firm, Butler, Pitkin & Co. occupied space by 1880.  Interviewed by the New-York Tribune in August that year, a member painted an optimistic view of the economic recovery.  "The amount of business done by us promises to be greater than for any season for fifteen years," he said.

The store was targeted by petty thieves that same month.  On August 14, the New-York Tribune reported, "Annie Connors and Johannah Regan, at the Tombs Police Court yesterday, were charged with stealing pearl buttons from the store of Butler, Pitkin & Co."  

Early in 1890, an unusual strike crippled the garment industry when "workmen on cloaks" walked off the job "for an advance in wages," according to the New York Herald.  The strike was somewhat surprising because it was "independent of any union, and includes over 600 men and women," explained the newspaper. By June 17, according to The Evening World, the number of strikers had risen to 10,000, now joined with union members throughout the city. 

Affected by the walkout was 476 Broadway tenant Popkin & Marks, a cloak manufacturer.  On June 17, the New York Herald reported on a possible break in the negotiations.  "Mr. Abraham Popkin visited the cutters at Pythagoras Hall, said that he was sorry he had joined the Manufacturers' Association, and wanted his hands all back at the highest wages."  A corrupt union leader would complicate the negotiations.

The following year, on March 23, 1891, a grand jury indicted union official Joseph Bardoness for extortion.  The Sun reported that Popkin & Marks asserted that Bardoness "compelled each firm to pay $100 before he would permit their striking employees to go back to work."

Herman, Sternbach & Co., importers, was in the building as early as 1886.  Composed of Daniel W. and Abraham Herman, Daniel McKeever, and Charles Sternbach, the firm garnered fortunes for its executives.

McKeever and his family lived in "one of the newest homes in Orange [New Jersey] and is a striking one," said the New-York Tribune on November 30, 1886.  Among their neighbors was the family of Henry Loveridge, president of the Maryland Coal Company.  His 18-year-old daughter, Marion, went to school and grew up with McKeever's son, William.

At the time of the article, William D. McKeever was 18 years old and worked as a clerk for Lazarus & Rosenfeld, chinaware merchants.  On November 22, 1886, Mrs. Loveridge took Marion to Dr. Joseph W. Howe in Manhattan.  The New-York Tribune reported, "After the visit to New-York, it was decided that it was best that Mr. McKeever and Marion should be married."  A note was sent to William telling him to meet at Marion's grand-aunt's house at 33 West 16th Street that night.  When he arrived, a minister was there and the wedding took place.  Marion went home with her parents and William went to his own home, never mentioning the marriage to his parents.

The secret came out when the Loveridges contacted the McKeevers about announcing the marriage.  On November 30, 1886, the New-York Tribune titled an article, "McKeever's Father Angry / Wanting His Son's Marriage Annulled."  Daniel McKeever told the reporter, "it is simply ridiculous that a mere lad of eighteen years, only an errand boy in a shop and unable to maintain a wife, should get married."  He also accused Loveridge of threats and coercion.

The rift prompted back-and-forth public announcements in the newspapers.  McKeever said his son was "entrapped into this marriage," while Loveridge insisted that William was "a competent and responsible person," capable of starting a family.  On December 2, the New-York Tribune reported that an attorney had been appointed guardian of William and he "seeks an annulment of the contract on the allegations that he was forced to wed against his will."

The annulment case failed.  Daniel McKeever, however, would not be daunted.  On September 16, 1892, he had his son arrested "alleging that the young man was insane," as reported by the New York Herald.  The physicians at Bellevue Hospital deemed William sane.  "It is further alleged that the father tried to bribe certain physicians to certify to young McKeever's insanity," reported the newspaper.

Other tenants in the building in the 1890s were real estate agent T. S. Atwalter; Eureka Trading Co., dealers of bicycles; auctioneer Louis Ullman; and the Mosler Safe Company.  All of them would soon have to find alternative accommodations.  

Only 29 years after the remarkable structure was completed, developer Henry Corn purchased 476 Broadway in November 1901.  The Record & Guide reported that he "will erect thereon a 12-story store and loft building from the plans of R[obert]. Maynicke."  That building, completed in 1903, survives.

photograph by the author

many thanks to reader Matthew Halls for suggesting this post