J. Morgan Slade's 1880 36 White Street

 

Born in 1836, Seth Mellen Milliken co-founded the dry goods and textile firm of Deering-Milliken Co.  Having amassed a fortune by the mid-1870s, he invested in speculative real estate.  In 1880, Milliken purchased the converted vintage house at 36 White Street, just east of Church Street.  As early as 1821, when the neighborhood was almost exclusively residential, the R. Tagart's School operated from the house.  Now Milliken hired architect Jarvis Morgan Slade to design a loft and store building on the site.

The 27-year-old architect had already made his mark in the dry goods district known today as Tribeca, having designed commercial structures in a variety of historic styles and materials.  Among his most striking was the David S. Brown Soap Store building at 8 Thomas Street--a brick and stone Victorian Gothic confection.

Slade's plans, filed in April 1880, described a five-story brick building with "galvanized iron cornice."  He projected the construction costs at $20,000--about $633,000 in 2025 terms.  For Milliken's project, he turned to the fashionable neo-Grec style, splashing it with whimsical Queen Anne details.

Slade's cast iron storefront was highly unusual.  Two beefy piers on either end were incised to suggest fluting and wore flat, egg-and-dart capitals.  The storefront was deeply recessed behind the cast iron elements.  Two thin, deep piers with Ionic capitals supported two shorter examples, like circus acrobats balancing atop the shoulders of another.

The architect chose a warm sandstone to contrast with the red brick of the upper floors.  Other than the identical, pencil-thin cast iron columns separating the grouped windows, each floor was treated separately.  And, yet, by placing a stone arch above the fourth floor openings, Slade gave the mid-section the visual appearance of a single large segmental arch.  Stone moldings crowned with rosette-incised panels transformed the brick piers of the top floor to pilasters.

Milliken's project was profitable.  He sold the building in September 1882 for $64,000--just over $2 million today. 

An early tenant was Nathan Cohen, who dealt in trimmings.  His success afforded him the funds to purchase at least two tenement buildings.  Around 1890, his wife, whom he married in 1859, convinced him to transfer title to his properties, including the business, to her.  The decision would end their decades long marital bliss.

Cohen began experiencing financial difficulties in 1891 and, according to The New York Times, "his creditors chased after assets until their legs ached."  He asked his wife to return the properties, but she refused.  "And ever since Cohen and his wife have been out [i.e., at odds]," said The New York Times.

Cohen retaliated against his wife by filing complaints to the Health Department.  They purported that the plumbing and sanitary conditions of the tenement buildings were unhealthy.  He additionally alerted the Fire Department that "they were liable to burn," and told the Building Department that they were unsafe.  The New York Times reported that his fictitious suits against his wife's properties were filed "in various names," but "were discontinued one by one."  He then sued her for $800 for money he claimed he had loaned her over their years together.

One day, Mrs. Cohen discovered her husband attempting to spirit away the household silverware to pawn.  She "recovered the silverware and thrashed Cohen with a broom," according to The Times.  "The couple frequently assaulted each other, and Mrs. Cohen made Cohen sleep down stairs.  He had a habit of getting up at 2 A. M. and yelling names at her," said the newspaper.  The domestic rift affected the 36 White Street business, and in 1892 it failed.

Another Cohen in the building, presumably not related, was Jacob Cohen, a partner with Moses L. Rosenfeld in the shirt manufacturing firm Cohen & Rosenfeld.  The firm moved in upon organizing in January 1886.  An audit of the books on January 1, 1893, showed that the firm was on shaky financial ground.  Owners of two creditors, Abraham Steinam and William L. Strong & Co., panicked when they saw crates leaving the building on October 18.  The truck driver said he had removed 30 "large cases of goods."  Cohen and Rosenfeld, aware that their business was about to fail, were attempting to sneak their inventory out of the building, safe from being attached.  The ploy did not work.

On October 19, the New York Herald reported that the sheriff "took charge yesterday of the place of business of Cohen & Rosenfield."  The article said, "Seven cases had been found stored in a warehouse under a fictitious name."

Other tenants in the building at the time were Shaw & Peck, linen merchants; the Art Fabric Co., textile designers; and dry goods importer Joseph L. Frame.

Joseph L. Frame died at the age of 63 on March 10, 1903, ending the business.  The Hearn department store on West 14th Street purchased the entire stock of the "prominent importer," as described by its advertisement in The New York Times on April 12, 1903.  The ad revealed the wide-ranging items in which Frame dealt--linen fringed cloths, satin damask dinner sets, dress linens, "glass towellings," linen napkins and such.

The Art Fabric Co. introduced a surprising item just in time for Christmas 1904--a cloth "life size doll."  The "clothes" were printed onto the fabric and the doll came with shoes that "can be put on and off."  Standing 2.5 feet tall, it sold for 50 cents.

The Life Size Doll was touted as having no clothes to ruin or get lost.  New-York Tribune, December 11, 1904 (copyright expired)

Among the tenants in 1913 were the Perfect Pants Co., and Robert Watson & Sons, makers and importers of "handkerchiefs and linen lawns," according to an advertisement in September that year.  The firm's factory was in Lurgan, Ireland.

Robert Watson & Sons was still in the building in 1919, but they would have to find a new location.  On April 27, the New-York Tribune reported that linen dealer Watts-Stebbins & Co. had leased "all the lofts at 36 White Street."

The venerable 34 White Street next door was a relic of the early development of the area.  image via the NYC Dept of Records & Information Services.

Watts-Stebbins & Co. may have leased the entire upper building to eliminate inquisitive co-tenants.  Three months earlier, Congress ratified the 18th Amendment, known as the Volstead Act.  It demanded that starting on January 17, 1920 the manufacture or sale of alcohol would be prohibited.  It took Prohibition agents a little time to discover Watts-Stebbins & Co.'s sideline, but on September 17, 1922, the New-York Tribune reported that agents "raided a linen establishment occupying four floors at 36 White Street, and [seized liquor] in excess of $500,000."  The raid was triggered when an undercover agent visited the address earlier and talked to a clerk, Joseph Elliott.  Elliott sold him six bottles of whisky for $30.

Manhattan's downtown district, including Tribeca, was  celebrated for its architecture in 1975, when June was officially proclaimed by the City Planning Commission "Lower Manhattan on Exhibit Month."  Part of the exhibitions and activities was a quirky "fashion show" of famous buildings on parade.  On June 19, The New York Times explained, "The buildings were actually costumes created and worn by architects and artists, and they were put on to dramatize the area's architectural heritage and evolution."  Among the structures represented in the parade was 36 White Street.

The third quarter of the 20th century saw a renewed interest in the Tribeca area as industrial lofts were converted to artists' studios and living spaces, and stores that once sold fabrics and trimmings became trendy shops and cafes.  In 1981, Jarvis Morgan Slade's handsome 36 White Street was converted to apartments, one per floor above the storefront.

photographs by the author

Isaac F. Duckworth's 1868 58 White Street

 

Samuel and Abraham Wood had been partners in their real estate development business for years when when they purchased an old building at 58 White Street in 1866 as the site of a modern loft and store structure.  The project caused them problems almost from the start.  In court years later, a nephew, Samuel A. Wood, would testify that "Mr. Alexander" had initially prepared the plans.  (He was likely referring to architect Charles A. Alexander.)  But the final plans, he said were submitted and accepted by "I. F. Duckworth."

"What was done with the plans of Mr. Alexander?" he was asked.

"They were rejected, and he afterwards sued Samuel and Abraham Wood."

Duckworth was prolific in the neighborhood known today as Tribeca, often utilizing the new cast iron façade technology.  But for 58 White Street, the material would appear only in the Corinthian columned storefront.  The upper floors were clad in white marble.  He carried the design of the paneled side piers to the second floor, where their diamond motif was copied into the spandrels below the windows.  The diamonds changed to circles at the second floor, and alternated again on the fourth and fifth.  Duckworth's Second Empire design placed engaged columns between the segmentally arched openings.  Prominent intermediate cornices defined each floor, and a complex terminal cornice of brackets and dentils supported a triangular pediment that announced the date that construction began.

The Alexander-Wood law suit would not be the last litigation over 58 White Street.  Abraham Wood died intestate in 1868, just as construction of the building was completed.  In 1873, the extended Wood family crowded into court to argue over his 50 percent of the property.  (The case was settled in November 1879 when Samuel Wood paid Abraham's estate $30,000 for the share, about $908,000 in 2024.)

In the meantime, Fisk, Clark & Flagg had moved into the ground floor space in 1868.  Catering to the carriage trade, the haberdashery offered high-end items like "kid and dogskin gloves," "patent pantaloon drawers," "Russian braces [i.e. suspenders]," and "neck dressings."

The upper floors were leased to textile and apparel firms, like Thorne, Carroll & Co., a "jobbing house" for "hosiery, gloves, underwear, &c."  Among its employees was E. Haight, who was hired as the firm's bookkeeper in 1869.  On his way to work in October 1879, he stopped into the store of M. A. Dauphin at 319 Broadway and spent $2 on two tickets in the Louisiana State Lottery Company.  The drawing was scheduled for October 14 and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said "without paying special attention to numbers on them, Mr. Haight slipped them cautiously into his pocketbook."

When the numbers were telegraphed from Louisiana on  the morning of October 15, Haight discovered he had won half of the second prize of $10,000.  The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported, "A reporter called yesterday at Thorne, Carroll & Co.'s store at 58 White street, and [found] Mr. Haight all beaming with smiles behind a labyrinth of open boxes."  Although the prize would equal just over $150,000 today, Haight intended to be sensible.  "Although a bachelor, he thought that be would find good use for this timely gift."

Cloak makers Wronkow & Finn occupied space here by 1883.  The firm engaged in the common practice of "home work"  or "piece work," by which independent workers received patterns and fabrics, constructed the garments in their homes, and were paid by the piece.   It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.  Firms required less rented square footage, for instance, and sewers had the flexibility to care for their small children at home.

David Lichenstein, who lived on Henry Street in the impoverished Lower East Side, was one of Wronkow & Finn's home workers.  But management became suspicious that he was "stealing remnants of cloth and cloak trimmings," reported The New York Times on August 22, 1883.  "In several instances he took more cloth and trimmings away from his employers' store than he returned," said the article.  A detective followed Lichenstein, who discovered he was selling fabric and trimmings "to street peddlers for about one-third their value."  He was arrested and held on $500 bail.

At the time, among improvements that had been made to 58 White Street was the installation of an elevator--a marked improvement over the hoist.  (Hoists were the open shaftways through which freight was hoisted up and down by pulleys.)  But 19th century elevators did not come with the safety features regulated by law today and that proved tragic on September 15, 1884.  The Brighton Cloak and Suit Company, headed by Morris Finn, occupied several floors in the building.  The following day, The Evening Post reported, "Charles Gillen, a fourteen-year-old messenger boy employed by the Brighton Cloak Company at No. 58 White Street, fell through the elevator well to the floor below yesterday and was instantly killed."

Four months later, the Brighton Cloak and Suit Company would suffer misfortune again.  On January 12, 1885, The New York Times reported, "A fire started yesterday morning in the subcellar of the six-story building No. 58 White-street., occupied by Morris Finn's Brighton Cloak and Suit Company, and the smoke was so dense as to alarm the foreman of Hook and Lauder Company No. 8. who sent out a third alarm."  Brighton Cloak Company used the basement for storage.  Although firefighters were able to confine the blaze to the cellar and basement, estimates of the damage to the firm's stock was between $5,000 and $6,000 (around $188,000 on the higher end today).  Less than two weeks later, Hannigan & Bouillon, a store on Grand Street, announced a "Great Sale," explaining it had purchased Brighton Cloak and Suit Company's "entire stock of cloaks saved from the fire of January 11, at 25 cents on the dollar."

It may have been the fire that prompted the Brighton Cloak and Suit Company to leave 58 White Street in 1886.  It was replaced by the newly-founded Blumenthal & Erdman, which leased four floors.  The firm manufactured and imported "embroideries, laces, etc."   In 1888, Illustrated New York wrote, "in their spacious salesroom can always be found a full and carefully-selected assortment of the latest novelties and most desirable styles in this department of trade."

Linen importer Leopold Pinkus & Co. operated from the building in the early 1890s.  In 1892, business troubles resulted in the firm's owing a European supplier, Jaffe Bros. & Co., a large amount of money.  So much was owed, in fact, that in October Leopold Pinkus was informed John Henry Luis, a representative of Jaffe Bros. & Co., was on his way to New York "to adjust the account due by Mr. Pinkus to his firm," as reported by The World.  Jaffe Bros. & Co. was the not only creditor breathing down Pinkus's neck.  He owed tens of thousands to other firms. 

Before Luis landed in New York, Pinkus was gone.  On October 18, 1893, The World reported, "it was alleged that Mr. Pinkus disappeared from his office Oct. 11, that he had not been there since and that his house at No. 319 West Eighty-seventh street was closed and creditors could not find him."  On October 17, a judge attached the assets of Leopold Pinkus & Co.

Another tenant in the 1890s was Charles Falkenberg, shirt makers.  In 1895, the firm employed 122 men, four boys under 18 years old, three women, and four teenaged girls.  They worked 51 hours per week.  Another shirtmaker, J. Sternglanz & Co., moved into the building on February 1, 1897.  It would remain at least through 1903.

No. 58 White Street continued to house textile and apparel firms in the post-World War I years.  In 1919, Dezell & Cunningham, dealers in "white goods, wash goods and silk and cotton fabrics," was here.  And in 1923, the newly-formed Ferdinand Sichel opened his cotton goods converting and importing business in the building.

One tenant distinctly not in the dry goods business was Jungmann & Company, which moved in around 1923.  The firm dealt in chemicals and drugs.

Drug & chemical Markets Buyers' Guide-Book, 1925

Dezell & Cunningham was still in the building in 1929, sharing the address with Gribbon & Co., importers of cotton handkerchiefs; and the Rindeman-Salinger Company, which dealt in cotton and linen ticking.

The Tribeca renaissance arrived at 58 White street by the 1960s, when the Abraham Ellis Foundation, Inc. had its offices here.  Around 2015 the Jane Lombard Gallery opened in the ground floor space.  Each of the upper floors, where workers once toiled over sewing machines, now contains one sprawling apartment.

photographs by the author

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200 Years of History - 34 White Street

Around 1805 the two-and-a-half story frame house at the northeast corner of White and Church Streets was completed.  The 25-foot wide residence would have had a peaked roof with dormers.  It unclear who erected the house; but it was occupied by Abraham Moore for several years.  Because Moore was well known in city politics, it is highly doubtful that house originally held a ground floor store.

By 1851 the ground floor had been converted for a grocery store.  It was operated by Gerhard Dieckman in 1853, who lived in the upper floors.  He was too savvy to be taken in by two would-be crooks that summer.  On August 18 the New-York Daily Tribune reported "Officer Trury of the Fifth Ward, yesterday arrested two men, named Charles King and Thomas Brooks, charged with attempting to pass a counterfeit bank bill at the store of Gerhard Dyckman [sic], No. 34 White-street."

Dieckman remained for a few years, but by 1859 the store had been taken over by Christopher Burmester.  On the night of January 18 Burmester neglected to lock the door to the cellar and between 3:00 and 4:00 in the morning fire broke out there.  Because it was "discovered at an early moment," according to the New-York Daily Tribune, it "was extinguished before much damage was done."  

But firefighters quickly suspected an arsonist had entered through the unlocked door.  The New York Herald noted "The fire was subsequently found to have originated amongst some empty barrels...and the fire is supposed to have been the act of an incendiary."

The store continued to see a turnover in proprietors.  Henry Miller ran it and lived upstairs in 1861.  That year the family's pet ran away.  An advertisement in The New York Herald on October 16 read: "$10 Reward--Lost...A King Charles Dog, with white breast.  The above reward will be given by returning him to No. 34 White street, corner Church."  That the dog was beloved was evidenced in the reward--nearly $300 in today's money.

It unclear who was operating the grocery store on March 4, 1864 when The New York Times reported that the house had been sold for $15,500 (about $256,000 today).  The upstairs portion was home to the family of George Reeves and while he was a grocer, his store was at No. 44 Whitehall Street.

The store space was apparently divided by 1873.  Michael J. Gallagher, who lived in Brooklyn, ran a dry goods shop from the address while Henry A. Haack operated the grocery.  Like many grocers, Haack also sold products like wine.  It got him into trouble on August 23, 1875.  The following day The Evening Telegram reported that he had been arrested "for selling liquor on the Sabbath."  He was held in jail overnight before appearing before a judge.

Major change to the building came in 1876 when owner William Watson began significant renovations.  When they were completed in 1877 the house was now a full three stories tall and was faced in brick.  Up-to-date neo-Grec iron lintels and sills were attached to the openings and a cast iron storefront had been installed.

The stylish lintels and sills were the last word in architectural trends.

The former grocery store space was now transformed to a restaurant.  Neither of the partners, Moses King nor Louis Miller, lived in the building.  King's home was on Third Avenue and Miller's on Franklin Street.

The property continued to be in the Watson family for years.  In 1901 the title was transferred to Henry R. C. Watson, presumably a son.

By 1903 the ground floor space was no longer being described as an "eating house," but as a "saloon."  And there was more going on inside than the casual chatter and beer drinking.  Two detectives named Delaney and Rice received a tip that spring, according to The Morning Telegraph, "that a handbook was in operating in a saloon at 34 White street."   A "handbook" operation was a system of betting on horse races.

The two undercover men set out to investigate during the first week of May.  "They had no difficulty in finding the saloon, and a ticker in a corner," said the newspaper.  Detective Delancy explained later that he "hugged that ticker for about an hour, and pored over the quotations on oil, sugar, railroads and horse races."  He said "I acted as much like a sport as I knew how and Kusker eventually approached and asked if I didn't want to be something on the races."

"Kusker" was 24-year old Edward Kusker who, despite his young age, ran what police described as "his gigantic gambling operation."  Delaney feigned "mature deliberation" and then said he "wanted to make a killing on Early Eve, in the sixth."  He pulled out a marked two-dollar bill.   The Morning Telegram wrote "Kusker, says the detective, accepted the bet, and the next thing he knew he was a guest of the City of New York."

In January 1904 Alfred E. Davison purchased the building.  He updated the structure, including a new metal cornice with brackets and a neo-Classical frieze.

Levi Y. Richardson, described by a newspaper as "a wealthy stationer" moved the Ryan Stationery Company into the renovated building.  The firm had been established years earlier and acquired by Richardson that year.  Things were going well for Richardson, who had married his wife, Mary, in 1901.  They lived in a fashionable Brooklyn neighborhood.

But early in 1907 Richardson began consistently staying out late at night.  On April 18 Mary rummaged through his suit pockets and found two love letters from "two young women, one of them prominent in Brooklyn society," according to newspapers.  They left no doubt as to his dalliances, both referring to the happy days that would come after his divorce.  "In the morning, it was alleged, she charged him with duplicity, and he confessed, fell on his knees and with tears in his eyes, kissed Mrs. Richardson again and again," recounted the New-York Tribune.

But his remorse was short lived.  He asked Mary for a divorce and when she replied that she "despised divorces," he exploded.  The New-York Tribune reported on June 11, "One night, she charged, he threw a glass powder jar at her and laid violent hands on her."  After he subsequently moved out, Mary filed for separation on the grounds of "advanced cruel and inhuman treatment and abandonment."

The bad press apparently ruined Richardson's business.  That summer he filed for bankruptcy.  The Sun reminded its readers "A report published in the papers of June 11 of a suit brought in the Supreme Court, Brooklyn, by Mrs. Mary Richardson against her husband...because she found two love letters from other women in his pockets caused considerable comment at that time."

The Ryan Stationery Company survived at the address, taken over by Cornelius Steers in the summer of 1907.  He was successful and on April 25 the following year Walden's Stationery and Printer commented that he "has built up a promising business."

Although clothing manufacturer Perfect Pants Company was in the building until 1913, and outerwear firm The Ranger Sales Co. was here in 1921, it continued to house printing firms.  In 1921 Alvo Printing took the third floor and would stay for years.  

Boys' Life magazine, June 1921 (copyright expired)

Alvo Printing was joined in the building in 1927 by Joseph Eismann, "printers' machinists."

The building was painted white in the 1940's.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

As the 20th century drew to an end the Tribeca neighborhood turned trendy.  By 1994 the Baby Doll Lounge was in the space once occupied by Edward Kusker's saloon and gambling den.  On August 22 that year Anya Sacharow wrote in New York Magazine "TriBeCa hipsters slum at the Jim Jarmusch-ish Baby Doll Lounge."  It would remain in the space past the turn of the century.

In 1997 the upper section was converted to apartments, one per floor.  On February 1, 2006 Petrarca Vina e Cucina opened at street level, described by The Times as "Arqua's wine bar spin-off."

photographs by the author

Slade & Colby's 1868 281 Church Street

In the first years following the Civil War wealthy dry goods merchant Jarvis Slade turned his focus to transforming the Tribeca district from one of old brick and wooden structures to modern loft buildings.  Years later, on January 29, 1881, The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide credited him with creating the dry goods district. "This gentleman was a pioneer in this district, and besides acquiring a large interest himself, it was mainly due to his influence that it was so rapidly covered with first-class buildings." 

Among his earliest projects was the five story loft and store building at the southeast corner of Church and White Streets.  He partnered with Gardner R. Colby to purchase the two old buildings on the site in October 1865.  
The transaction involving the wooden house at No. 35 White Street would cause headaches for the seller, Samuel Keyser, before long.

But in the meantime, Colby and Slade commenced construction on their new building in 1866.  Faced in light-colored sandstone, it was completed the following year.  Although the storefronts opened onto Church Street, giving the building its address of No. 281 Church; the 75-foot long White Street elevation was architecturally treated as the front.

Stone piers embraced the cast iron storefront sections where free-standing Corinthian columns upheld the entablature.  Each of the nearly identical upper stories was clearly defined by crisp sill courses.  Corinthian pilasters separated the segmentally-arched openings and rusticated piers ran up the corners.  A handsome French Second Empire cornice, supported on brackets, was capped by a pyramidal pediment.

Soon after the construction had begun, Samuel Keyser found himself in court.  On the abutting Church Street property was a boarding house.  For years the owners had a legal agreement with Keyser allowing them to share his rear yard--and most importantly his privy.  In April 1866 they sued; their complaint saying in part, "when Slade and Colby were building they undermined the yard so that the fence all caved in; and the privy building was carried away by the boys of the neighborhood."

While the two parties fought over the lost privy privileges, Colby and Slade filled No. 281 Church Street with, for the most part, dry goods merchants.  An exception was the silversmith firm of S. D. Johnson, here by the early 1870's.

On August 24, 1876 two burglars broke into Johnson's shop and made off with silverware valued at about $36,000 in today's money.  Police were certain they knew who the perpetrators were--William Heany and Thomas Macaveny, the "well-known Fourteenth ward thieves," as described by The Evening Telegram.  The pair was picked up on Hester Street the following day.  "The prisoners, who are young men, denied any knowledge of the burglary," said the article.  Despite the fact that the arresting officers apparently had no hard evidence against them they were held in default of bail.

In the first years of the 1890's a sixth floor, nearly hidden by the cornice and pediment, was added to the building which continued to house mostly dry goods businesses, like Letson & Hashagen.  

Just the the roofline of the new top floor can be seen above the original cornice.

But there were still exceptions to that rule as well.  By 1894 New York branch of Mulhens & Kropff was in the building and would remain through the turn of the century.  The firm imported colognes, soaps, and "extracts" from its Cologne, Germany laboratories.

On December 1, 1895 Merck's Market Report said "a particularly excellent business is being done in the transparent glycerin soaps.  Mr. Kropff speaks in the highest terms of the White-Rose soap, which is a star among the glycerin varieties."  The article added that Mulhens & Kropff's "'Eau de Cologne' has held its own in the United States against all competitors for the last sixty years."

The Puritan, February 1899 (copyright expired)

The Eau de Cologne was somewhat pricey.  A two-ounce sample bottle could be had by mail order in 1899 for 30 cents; nearly $10 in today's dollars.

Frederick Hashagen, a partner in Letson & Hashagen, was troubled that year.  He left his Brooklyn house as usual on November 19, but instead of going to his office here he checked into the Grand Union Hotel under the name of J. S. Harrison.  At around noon he was found dead in his room with a bullet wound in his chest.  "The man is believed to have committed suicide," said the Brooklyn Daily Eagle."

It was possibly serious business problems that prompted Hashagen's desperate action.  Within months Letson & Hashagen declared bankruptcy.

Sharing the building with Mulhens & Kropff in the first years of the 20th century were linen merchants R. Lindner and George P. Boyce & Co., and Cawley & Weixelbaum, makers of handles for canes and umbrellas.   The latter moved into second floor in 1905.

In reporting on the firm's move Trunks, Leather Goods and Umbrellas described the new space as a "spacious and well lighted loft" and added "They will not confine the business to high class novelties, but make a specialty of good values in popular priced handles of European manufacture."

Trunks, Leather Goods & Umbrellas, April 1906 (copyright expired)

In 1908 cotton goods merchants R. E. Walsh & Co. and Thos. J. Conroy leased space in the building.  They were joined in 1916 by M. Gardner & Co., linen importers.   

The Colby family still owned a portion of the property at the time.  Henry F. Colby, who lived in Dayton, Ohio, died in 1916 leaving the holding to his wife.

In the first years following World War I Weissfeld Bros. & Gross was in the building.  The firm manufactured hospital, restaurant and hotel items like lab coats, aprons, caps, "luggers," and such.  In its May 1919 issue, American Druggist reported "This firm manufactures clothing and uniforms of every description and their many years' standing in this industry is ample evidence of the quality of the product."  To bring home its point, the article said "A neat and clean looking, dapper druggist will attract new customers to his store apart from his regular trade which will recommend him for his appearance."

In September that year the National Retail Tea and Coffee Merchants' Association held its annual convention in St. Louis.  It was a major affair, lasting three days.  An important feature was a exhibition of goods by industry-related manufacturers and dealers.  Two exhibitors came from the Church Street building.

In October Simmons' Spice Mill reported that Gardner Textile Co. had exhibited "table clothes, table sets consisting of a table cloth and six napkins, (boxed), napkins towels and other kindred articles used in the household."  Rendrag Co., Inc. had also staged a display, theirs consisting of "various kinds of ladies' handkerchiefs, embroidered, packed in ornate boxes, three to a box."

Weissfeld Bros. & Gross and Gardner Textile Co. were still here in 1922, along with hospital linens manufacturer Geo. P. Boyce & Co.

The Modern Hospital, February 1922 (copyright expired)

The Colby family still retained ownership of the building in 1938--more than seven decades after its construction.  On February 1, 1938.  Lincoln Fabrics, Inc. occupied the store and basement levels and the long-established dry goods firm Henry Glass & Co. was on the top floor.  The second and fourth floors were vacant.   Fire broke out in the building that morning, destroying the store of Lincoln Fabrics.  Smoke rose throughout the entire building.  It was intense enough to damage the stock of Henry Glass & Co.

The last quarter of the century saw profound changes in the old dry goods district, now known as Tribeca.  Where Lincoln Fabrics, Inc. had operated its store the trendy restaurant Arqua opened in 1987.  On May 4 New York Magazine reported "The newest good place to eat Italian food, according to Italian-cooking expert Giuliano Bugialli, is Arqua."

A conversion completed in 2002 resulted in one sprawling apartment per floor above the storefront.  Matteo Boglione opened his restaurant, White & Church, with partner Gian Perugini here in the summer of 2011.  Through it all Slade & Colby's striking 1868 sideways-facing structure has remained remarkably intact.

photographs by the author

The 1869 Grosvenor. Bldg - 64-66 White Street

Jasper Grosvenor was a partner in Rogers, Ketchum & Grosvenor, one of the largest steam locomotive manufacturers in the United States.  Following his death in 1857 his wife, Matilda, took over the administration of his estate and before long turned to real estate development.  In 1869 she had two converted houses at Nos. 64 and 66 White Street and another at No. 60 White Street demolished.  Simultaneously the estate of D. C. Williams did the same with the building in between at No. 62.

Doubtlessly the two owners discussed their projects.  Both estates hired architect William W. Gardiner to design their modern loft buildings, completed within the year, which were near matches to one another.  The largest, Nos. 64-66, was given the name the Grosvenor Building which was incorporated into the pediment high above the street along with the construction date.

Like its fraternal siblings, the Grosvenor Building was clad in cast iron.  Gardiner's Second Empire design featured Corinthian columns at the store front level and Doric pilasters on the upper floors.  Prominent cornices separated each floor and the impressive terminal cornice was supported by ornate brackets.  Its arched pediment was surmounted by a decorative finial.

Nos. 60 and 62 White Street were virtually smaller versions of 64-66 (at right).

In 1877 the building was leased to the auction house of Wilmerding, Hoguet & Co.  Founded by Henry Augustus Wilmerding the firm liquidated excess stock, the goods of bankrupt manufacturers, and other large parcels.   In its January 1877 issue The Carpet Trade Review announced "Wilmerding, Hoguet & Co. remove February 1 to 64 and 66 White Street, where the carpet department will be located on the first floor."

The Carpet Trade Review, January 1877 (copyright expired)

The firm auctioned a wide variety of goods.  On July 23, 1878, for instance, The Evening Telegram reported "An unusually important auction sale, consisting of 6,000 cases blankets, carriage robes, lap-robes and horse blankets took place to-day at the salesrooms of Wilmerding, Hoguet & Co., Nos. 64 and 66 White street."  The massive amount of woolen goods had been assembled from five manufacturers.  The writer estimated the number of bidders present at 600.

The firm briefly subleased space to furrier Joseph J. Asch, who was listed here in The List: A Visiting and Shopping Directory in 1885.  Asch's name is forever remembered as the owner of the Asch Building and the Triangle Waist Company where 146 women perished in a fire in 1911.

Henry Augustus Wilmerding had died in 1870 and his son, John Currie Wilmerding stepped into his post as a partner with Robert J. Hoguet and Henry L. Hoguet.  On January 1, 1889 they brought additional partners into the firm, changing the name to Wilmerding, Morris & Mitchell.  Other than the name, little else changed in the operation or location of the firm.

Among the new partners was Cornelius B. Mitchell who was concerned about the city's barren streetscape.   As sidewalks were laid no thought had been given to greenery, leaving Manhattan's streets increasingly barren.  In 1899 he helped found The Tree Planting Association which sought to correct the situation.

Residents were urged to plant a tree in front of their homes or businesses.  The initial cost, the association
 stressed, was small, the expense of maintaining the trees nearly nonexistent, and the benefits great.  "The enjoyment of seeing them grow and the knowledge that each tree, even though small, will exert a cooling and beneficial influence on the air in summer, and that its graceful outlines and branches will be beautiful in winter--make the investment of a few dollars most satisfactory."  

On March 22, 1899 The New York Press announced "The Tree Planting Association has prepared some new circulars which they will forward without charge to all inquirers by mail only to its office, No. 64 white street, New York city."

In 1901 the ground floor became the showroom of G. Z. Akawo, a Japanese manufacturer of floor matting.  In its January 1902 issue American Carpet & Upholstery wrote "At their salesrooms in the famous Wilmerding, Morris & Mitchell Building at 64-66 White Street, New York, is to be found the entire line, most in exclusive patterns.  Mr. Akawo is one of the latter-day brand of Japanese who are bending their energies to extend their commerce to all parts of the world."

American Carpet & Upholstery Journal, January 1902 (copyright expired)

The commission firm of J. J. Houlihan sublet space in the building at the same time.  He represented carpeting firms like the Coral Manufacturing Company and the Belmont Mills.  He was also a direct competitor of G. Z. Akawo.  American Carpet & Upholster Journal noted that he "also carries a very complete line of China and Japan mattings."  The article added "A call at the White Street establishment will demonstrate that he has three good and thoroughly available lines, and buyers would do well to at least give him a call."

American Carpet & Upholstery Journal, January 1902 (copyright expired)

If the proximity of the two firms was counter-productive, the situation was eliminated when G. Z. Akawo hired J. J. Houlihan to manage his business in New York.  In August 1904 American Carpet & Upholstery reported "G. Z. Akawo, who left for Japan several months ago, has recently forwarded to Manager J. J. Houlihan, at their warerooms, 64 White Street, New York, the samples of new style mattings for Spring 1905 import orders."

Wilmerding, Morris & Mitchell left White Street around 1909.  That year A. L. Reid & Co., importers and converters of dry goods was listed in the building.  

In 1914 the aging structure was in need of updating.  Its owner, George M. Carnochan, hired architect James A. Clark to make sensible renovations, including "enclosure of toilets."

The building continued to house dry goods firms throughout the subsequent decades.  When The Broadway-John Street Corporation purchased the property in January 1920, the New-York Tribune mentioned it was "occupied at present by English commission houses."  Among them was Ridgway, Greeves & Co., Irish linen importers.

By the mid-1940's the Paramount Textile Mills, Inc. was in the building.  Employees were paid in cash at the time and trips from the bank with the weekly payroll could be dangerous.  On August 27, 1946 Jennie Iacone, who was just 20-years-old, made the bank run unaccompanied.  She made it back to the building at around 12:43 with $1,683 in a money bag--a tempting $21,600 in today's money for bandits.

Rather than the elevator, she took the stairs.  She had just reached the first landing when she noticed a young man coming down.  Simultaneously another rushed up from behind.  That man grabbed and choked her.  Although she fought back, they wrested the bag from her and escaped.  Jennie fainted on the landing.  

Police theorized that the thieves had watched the building for weeks, taking note of when the payroll was retrieved and that Jennie had no protection.  They looked for suspects with scratches since Jennie's sole weapon had been her fingernails.

The third quarter of the century saw a starkly different type of tenant.  Among them in 1981 was Julius Blumberg, Inc. publisher of legal forms and documents.

The three buildings have been internally combined.

Around 2015 the Grosvenor Building was joined internally with Nos. 60 and 62.  A gut renovation resulted in a mix-use building.  Lost architectural elements, like the Corinthian capitals of the storefront, were refabricated, restoring the handsome facade to its 1869 appearance.

The elaborate capitals were carefully copied from originals.

photographs by the author

The Lost Alexander M. C. Smith House - 122 White Street

This tax photograph, taken around 1940, shows the Sunshine Settlement sign on the facade.  The Federal-style iron fencing survives after more than a century.  from the NYC Department of Records & Information Services

In the first decades of the 19th century modest middle-class homes began appearing in the district which would become known Tribeca.  Among them was No. 122 White Street which, like its neighbors, was two-and-a-half stories tall and faced in red brick trimmed in brownstone.  The original owners were financially comfortable enough to afford extras, like the handsome doorway with its wooden columns and ample transom.

By 1841 it was home to Alexander M. C. Smith and his family.  He was a member of the Municipal Police, working from the Police Court in the Halls of Justice--a position similar to a court officer today.  Smith's son followed in the profession.  James L. Smith was listed in city directories as a "high constable."

Alexander seems to have taken a no-nonsense approach to his job.  He was on duty during the sensational Helen Jewett murder trial.  It received nationwide press because of the lurid details.  Helen was a prostitute who was violently murdered by a repeat customer, Richard P. Robinson.

On January 21, 1837 The Herald quoted James D. Hall, who was present in the courtroom, saying "I witnessed the expulsion of Mr. Howard, by police officer A. M. C. Smith--Smith told Mr. Howard he must go out--Mr. Howard replied 'I have a right to be here'--Smith then said, 'I'll be d-----d if you shan't go out,' and he then thrust him violently from the court room."

Robinson, incidentally, despite a trove of evidence against him, walked free.

The Smith family remained in the White Street house for years.  But in 1853 a scandal arose which may have prompted the family to leave.  Smith was accused of paying a $125 bribe to Alderman Thomas J. Barr to ensure his reappointment.  In his affidavit of July 1853 he insisted "I only intended it to go to the aid in the re-election of Assistant Alderman Barr, the next fall."

Six months earlier, on January 28, 1853, the house had been sold at auction.  The new owner rented rooms, and his advertisement on June 28, 1854 in The New York Herald intimated that he intended to run an upright operation.

To Let--Apartments in 122 White Street; One front basement, a parlor and two bedrooms, to a small respectable family; would be let reasonable.  None else need apply.

That group of rooms was available again in April 1860, as well as two attic rooms and three rooms on the second floor.  Among the roomers here in 1861 was John White, who taught in the Boys' Department of School No. 1.  He made a surprisingly comfortable salary for a teacher.  His $1,500 per year wages would equal $44,000 today.

Two years later the house was once again a private residence, home to the O'Keeffe family.  John G. O'Keeffe was a politician and a member of Tammany Hall.  By 1878 sons Henry and Ferdinand J. O'Keefe were making their own livings, Henry listed as a clerk and his brother simply as "agent."

It appears that at least on roomer was in the house in 1880.  John More was arrested "on a charge of stealing a watch from Commodore Nutt," according to the Brooklyn Union-Argue on September 3 that year.  Commodore Nutt was a dwarf who worked for P. T. Barnum and he, like his co-stars Tom and Lavinia Thumb, made a fortune touring with the showman.  The newspaper added that the stolen watch "was given to him by P. T. Barnum."

Commodore Nutt was the victim of John More.  from the collection of the Syracuse University Library

The O'Keefes were followed in the house by attorney John J. Gallagher. whose father was an official at the Tombs nearby.  He had been the candidate for the Labor and Republican parties for Civil Justice in 1887.  On Saturday morning, December 19, 1891, Gallagher was in his office when at around 10:00 he complained of a headache and went back home.  He died in the White Street house a few hours later of a heart attack at the age of just 29.

When this photo was taken in 1938 the Federal elements of the house were amazingly intact, including the entrance.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

By 1895 the house was being used as the Ivy Social Club.  It placed an ad in The Sun on April 2 that year announcing "The Ivy Social Club's baseball team has reorganized for the season, and would like to hear from all teams with players under 19 years old.  Address John Ramond, 122 White street, New York city."

Patrick Cooley, the club's janitor who lived in the house, made extra money by training dogs to catch rats and then selling them.  On February 13, 1898 The Press reported "Yesterday he took a gray tan terrier out for sale."  The article explained that at Madison Avenue and 18th Street he stopped a well-dressed man and touted the dog's talents.  "The man had doubts of the dog's ability, and going back into his house, brought out a rat trap, in which was a huge rat."

The demonstration went downhill from there.  "Cooley took hold of the trap to release the rat, but was not quick enough, and the rat, before the dog could catch it, fastened its teeth in his right hand."  The article concluded "He not only failed to make a sale, but had to have the wound cauterized."

By now the neighborhood around No. 122 had changed.  Stores and missions moved into the vintage homes.  The Settlement Movement had appeared in America around 1890.  It stressed education over charity so that impoverished children and women could independently make their way in the world.   In 1900 V. Corena Furry founded the Sunshine Settlement at No. 60 Baxter Street, just around the corner.  

By 1903 the Transfiguration Lyceum operated from No. 122.  The organization seems to have been a sort of boys' and girls' club with extracurricular activities designed to keep the children off the streets.  There was a boys' baseball team, for example.  On June 8 1904 a notice in The New York Press announced "The Transfiguration Lyceum B.B.C. wants games with teams averaging 18 years."

In 1909 the Sunshine Settlement moved into No. 122 White Street.  That year, on June 19, Margaret Blake Robins was quoted in The Sun "We have never aimed to do 'great things.'  The settlement is simply a second home for working people and their families, where they get music, entertainment, wholesome fun, that makes them sun the streets and tenement hallways and brings out their own talent and individuality."

It was more than that, of course.  Like the Lyceum, there were a baseball team for the boys, a kindergarten, sewing school, and a mothers' club.  Robins said of the sewing classes that the supplies were provided and the students "keep the garments which they learn to make as their own.  No longer do little ones go around with dirty underclothes, or none, as it used to be, and there was 'loafing' and worse things that are unheard of now."

Following World War I the work of the Sunshine Settlement greatly expanded.  In 1921 The Brooklyn Daily Eagle Almanac listed its "social center for working girls, young boys and mothers of the neighborhood and has various industrial classes; maintains clubs, vacation funds, library, kindergarten, practical lectures, health classes, medical and otherwise."  

The boys' baseball team was still going strong in 1938 when Dorothy Dassler Furry announced in the New York Evening Post that it was available for weekend games.  "The boys range in age from twelve to fourteen," she noted.

The wooden barrier at the lower edge of this 1938 photo was erected for the construction site of the Criminal Courts Building.  from the collection of the New York Public Library/

That year the entire block across the street from No. 122 was demolished for the new Criminal Courts Building.  The opposite side was next to go, likewise demolished for the Manhattan Detention Complex.