Capt. Edward Slevin House

121 West 11th Street | West Village | built 1842

Open on the map3 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. 1842

    No. 121 begins a Greek Revival row with a pedimented doorway

    The long row of Greek Revival houses built in 1841-42 by architect William Hurry and builder George Youngs ran from No. 121 to Sixth Avenue, and continued around the corner onto Sixth Avenue. Most doorways were plain and pilastered, but No. 121 received a more elaborate one, topped by a low pediment. The present ironwork of its stoop dates from the 1890s and replaced the original.

    “…although that at No. 121 is more elaborate and Greek Revival in design with ears at the top surmounted by a handsome low-angled pediment…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1882

    January 15

    Runaway children's testimony targets a boarding house keeper in a custody fight, and she is exonerated

    When the house was a boarding house run by Emma Braisted, hatter William Banta Jr. brought his three children to live here. They ran away after six weeks. At a Brooklyn custody hearing on January 15, 1882, the older children made unflattering claims about the household, and an aunt said the house sheltered working women who entertained at night. Braisted brought witnesses and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle said she was exonerated, though the grandmother won custody.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1895

    February

    Police Captain Edward Slevin dies at home, and a drive including a theater benefit clears his mortgage

    Slevin, a police captain since 1887, bought the house with his wife Catherine in March 1894. He fell ill at midnight in February 1895 and died the next afternoon of a perforated intestine. His casket lay in the parlor under a police honor guard until the funeral at St. Joseph's Church, with police captains as pallbearers. A drive to raise $4,000 for the mortgage included an April matinee of Too Much Johnson at the Standard Theatre, and the mortgage was later reported paid.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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