135 West 12th Street

West Village | built 1828

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. 1870

    Merchant Anthony F. Schwab leases the house; his son Frederick, a theater critic, later joins the Times staff

    The Heidelbach family, the first residents, moved away around 1868 but kept ownership and rented the house to German-born merchant Anthony F. Schwab in 1870. Schwab's son Frederick A. wrote theater criticism for Music & Drama and The Theatre, translated French plays and later joined the staff of The New York Times. Anthony died in April 1871 and his funeral was held in the house.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1880

    February 25

    Tea merchant George F. Garlock buys the house for $13,000 and adds a fourth floor

    Garlock paid $13,000 for the house on February 25, 1880. He had a fourth floor added, with the architect matching the original lintels and duplicating the cornice. The house had been a three-story building like its former twin, and it looks outwardly little changed since his addition.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1911

    December 9

    Aero Club Italiano opens its rooms here during the early aviation craze

    Aero magazine reported that the Aero Club Italiano opened rooms in the house on December 9, 1911, with a ceremony that began at 8:30 in the evening. It was one of many aero clubs formed after the Wright brothers' 1903 flight, and catered to Italian-Americans. By March 1912 it had 64 active members and held a ball at the Murray Hill Lyceum.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1922

    November 21

    The Marshall Chess Club opens its new clubhouse here with a housewarming

    In April 1922 a new company bought the house and converted it to apartments without kitchens, and the Marshall Chess Club took rooms in it. The New York Herald reported a housewarming on November 21, with U.S. champion Frank Marshall coming back from Kingston and world champion Jose Capablanca among those invited. The clubrooms hosted intercollegiate tournaments, including one in December 1922.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1930

    January 7

    Friends gather at the chess club to mark Frank Marshall's 25th wedding anniversary

    The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on January 6 that Frank J. Marshall, U.S. chess champion since 1909, would celebrate his silver wedding anniversary the next day with a gathering of friends at the club to greet him and his wife. The club left the house the following year, 1931, and the building went back to small apartments.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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