Billy Madden's Athletic Hall

120 East 13th Street | East Village | built 1920

Open on the map4 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. 1884

    January 2

    Billy Madden opens a saloon with a boxing and dancing hall

    The Sporting Life reports on January 2, 1884, that Billy Madden has opened a saloon at the address with a boxing and dancing room attached. Madden, born in London in 1852, had boxed until January 1877 and then trained and managed fighters, among them John L. Sullivan, Jake Kilrain and Jack Dempsey. At the hall he runs amateur tournaments with medals as prizes.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1885

    January 12

    Boxer Jack Dempsey buys Billy Madden's Athletic Hall and reopens it

    Madden sells the hall to his fighter Jack Dempsey in December 1884. Dempsey holds an inauguration event on January 12, 1885, and the hall keeps staging bouts with Dempsey as host and sometimes referee. Madden stays on to help run it and to referee.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1893

    Piano-felt manufacturer Alfred Dolge buys the building for offices

    Industrialist Alfred Dolge purchases the former Athletic Hall in 1893 to use as offices for his piano-felt manufacturing business. The venture is short-lived: Dolge's firm fails in 1898, and the building is sold in foreclosure to Adolph Sietor for $2,000.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 2007

    The building is renovated into a shop, offices, and apartments

    After decades of industrial use, including a dry-filling-machine operation and an offset-plate service in the mid-20th century, the building is renovated in 2007. The ground floor becomes a contractor's shop and offices, with residential apartments added on the floors above.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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