Admiral's House

1 Governors Island | also 1 Barry Road, 140 Carder Road | Governors Island | built 1900

Open on the map5 entries

The lot about 1940
About 1940. Via 1940s.nyc
The lot about 1985
About 1985. Via 80s.nyc

The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.

Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.

  1. 1843

    Martin E. Thompson's Greek Revival commanding officer's house is completed

    Designed in 1840 by Martin E. Thompson and finished in 1843, the house served as quarters for the commanding officer of the Army post on Governors Island. Residents included Generals Winfield Scott Hancock, who ran for president while living here, John J. Pershing and Omar N. Bradley. The Coast Guard renamed it Admiral's House and designated it Building 1 in 1966.

    Source: Wikipedia

  2. 1880

    Winfield Scott Hancock campaigns for president while living in the house

    Union Civil War general Winfield Scott Hancock, commanding the Army's Division of the Atlantic from Governors Island, occupies the house as its ranking officer while mounting an unsuccessful campaign for the presidency. Other officers who later live in the same quarters include Leonard Wood, John J. Pershing and Omar Bradley. The house serves as home to the island's senior officer for most of the next century.

    Source: Wikipedia

  3. 1886

    A south wing is added to the commanding officer's house

    Builders extend the Greek Revival house on Governors Island with a new south wing, enlarging quarters that already rank among the finest on the island. Further changes follow over the next three decades, including a raised roof and a Colonial Revival entrance portico with Doric columns. The house continues to serve as home to the Army post's ranking officer throughout this period.

    Source: Wikipedia

  4. 1966

    The Coast Guard takes over Governors Island and renames the house

    When the U.S. Coast Guard establishes a base on Governors Island, it takes over the former Army commanding officer's quarters, renames it the Admiral's House and designates it Building 1. The Coast Guard uses the house until closing the base in 1996. The building is designated a New York City landmark the following year, in 1967.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1988

    December 7

    Reagan, Bush and Gorbachev meet at the Admiral's House

    On December 7, 1988, just after announcing at the United Nations that the Soviet Union would cut its armed forces by 500,000 troops, Mikhail Gorbachev met President Ronald Reagan and President-elect George H. W. Bush at the commandant's residence. The private talk lasted 25 minutes and dwelt more on memories of past summits than on Gorbachev's new proposals; Reagan gave him an inscribed photograph.

    Source: nsarchive2.gwu.edu

Further reading

Nearby

All 81 buildings with stories in Governors Island