Noah Bigelow House

13 Commerce Street | West Village | built 1826

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. 1826

    Charles Oakley completes a rental row of four houses at Nos. 9-15 Commerce Street

    Charles Oakley put up four brick houses on the north side of Commerce Street as a speculation. All four were let right away, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission notes that three tenants worked in construction: a carpenter at No. 9 and two stonecutters, William and John Joyce, at No. 11. No. 13 was one of the row, later given Greek Revival castings on its stair landing.

    “…erected in 1826 for Charles Oakley for speculative purposes. The houses were all rented immediately to tenants, three of whom were connected with the building trades…”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1840

    Charles Pell and his bride Sarah Jane Bigelow move into her father's house, where she dies three years later

    After marrying Sarah Jane Bigelow in 1840, Charles Shute Pell moved into the Commerce Street house of her father, the Rev. Noah Bigelow, a Methodist minister who owned it by the early 1840s. Sarah Jane died in 1843, but Pell and their young son Charles stayed on with the Bigelows. Pell taught at Grammar School No. 8 on Grand Street and was promoted to principal in 1845.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1844

    July 22

    Methodist minister Noah Bigelow wins a $13.60 tax refund on No. 13 because he is a clergyman

    Rev. Noah Bigelow, a Revolutionary War veteran and minister of the Bedford Street Church, owned No. 13 by the early 1840s. After paying his 1843 property tax he petitioned the city, and on this date the Board of Assistants' tax committee reported that he was assessed on $1,700 and entitled to a $1,500 clergy deduction. He received a refund of $13.60. He died at home in August 1849.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1887

    March 11

    After Sally Bigelow dies at 102, the new owner raises the house to three stories

    Sally Bigelow, widow of Rev. Noah Bigelow, deeded the house to her grandson Charles E. Pell in December 1886 and died a few months later at 102. Pell quickly sold it to James E. Bonesteel, and plans were filed on March 11, 1887 to raise the building at a cost of $500. The attic became a full third floor, topped with an Italianate cornice. Bonesteel rented the house out rather than living in it.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 1,156 buildings with stories in West Village