Franklin Furnace building

112 Franklin Street | Tribeca | built 1867

Open on the map6 entries

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

  1. 1861

    Captain James L. Waugh of the Tompkins Blues goes to war from his house on the site of 112 Franklin

    Before the present building, a 25-foot-wide wooden house at 112 Franklin Street belonged to James L. Waugh, who by 1854 ran a gold leaf and gold foil business from it while living upstairs. A captain in the New York National Guard, he left for the Civil War in April 1861 at the head of Company H, the Tompkins Blues. In spring 1862 he won a brief furlough to see his sick son and offered to take letters and small parcels from soldiers' families back to his men. This was an earlier building on the site.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1867

    Samuel A. Warner designs a marble-faced loft for Max Weil, with an identical twin next door

    Completed in 1866-67 for Max Weil, 112 Franklin Street was designed by Samuel A. Warner and replaced a frame dwelling. The marble facade blends Italianate and Second Empire elements above a cast-iron storefront with Corinthian columns. Warner's brother Benjamin, who shared his office at 132 Broadway, was architect of record for the identical building at No. 114.

    “Constructed in 1866-67 for Max Weil, it was designed by Samuel A. Warner, an architect responsible for many commercial buildings in the area…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1875

    A career burglar later executed for murder robs 112 Franklin Street

    In 1875 the career criminal John Richard Dolan burglarized 112 Franklin Street. After his arrest following the killing of brush manufacturer James H. Noe on August 22 that year, he was found with part of the proceeds, and a valise stolen from the building turned up in a hallway near his home. Dolan was executed on April 21, 1876.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1976

    April

    Martha Wilson founds Franklin Furnace in the storefront and basement at 112 Franklin Street

    In April 1976 Martha Wilson took over a storefront and basement in an arts building at 112 Franklin Street for Franklin Furnace, an archive founded to serve artists who chose publishing as their medium. The window facing the street served as a gallery and a bookstore for artists' books, while the basement was used for performances. One of the earliest shows, in 1979, presented Ida Applebroog's artists' books, which she mailed out to recipients as a performance.

    Source: franklinfurnace.org

  5. 1981

    February

    Eric Bogosian premieres Men Inside at the Franklin Furnace performance space

    In February 1981 Eric Bogosian's Men Inside premiered in the Franklin Furnace performance space at 112 Franklin Street. By then the organization, which Martha Wilson had started in 1976, was showing performances and artists' books, and it had received funding from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts since its first year.

    Source: franklinfurnace.org

  6. 1990

    May

    The Fire Department closes Franklin Furnace's performance space over a call about an illegal social club

    In May 1990 the New York City Fire Department shut the basement performance space at 112 Franklin Street after a call claiming the venue was an "illegal social club." Franklin Furnace carried on as a roving presenter, staging performances at venues including Judson Memorial Church and PS1 in a period it called Franklin Furnace in Exile. The 112 Franklin Street building was sold in 1997, with the proceeds going into a cash reserve as the organization moved online.

    Source: franklinfurnace.org

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