American Tract Society Building

150 Nassau Street | Financial District | built 1895

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

  1. 1826

    An earlier Tract House on this site opens as the American Tract Society's headquarters

    In May 1825 Arthur Tappan, Anson Greene Phelps and Moses Allen bought this corner lot for $15,000, holding it in trust for the newly merged American Tract Society. John McComb Jr., who had co-designed City Hall, gave his services as architect, and the four-story Tract House was ready for the society's annual meeting in 1826. It held offices, a tract sales room, printing and binding rooms, and quarters for the printer, with part of the building leased out for income.

    “The architect of Tract House, a member of ATS who donated his services, was John McComb, Jr.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1847

    Currier & Ives rent space in a bigger Tract House that replaces the first one in 1846-47

    Needing room for steam-powered printing presses, the Tract Society rebuilt on the same lot in 1846-47. The first two floors were rented out, and Currier & Ives, the print publishers, were among the tenants. The printing department on the fifth floor was damaged by a fire in 1859, and in 1871-72 architect Robert G. Hatfield added a mansard-roofed story to bring in more rent.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1895

    September

    A 23-story steel-framed tower is finished here, among the city's tallest buildings

    R. H. Robertson filed plans in May 1894 and work began at once; the steel contractor promised two stories a week and reportedly used the largest derrick yet seen in the city. The clay and sand soil ruled out caissons, so the builders set concrete-topped wooden piles under the columns. The tower was largely finished in September 1895 for $1.1 million and reached 292 feet, surpassed only by Manhattan Life, the World Building, the Madison Square Garden tower and St. Patrick's Cathedral.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  4. 1897

    September

    An elevator car drops 19 floors in the Tract Society Building and kills both passengers

    After a cab fell from the 10th floor to the basement in November 1896 and hurt three people, the society swapped its Otis elevators for Crane machines in early 1897. In September of that year another car plunged 19 floors, killing the two people inside. A coroner's jury blamed no one but called for a competent elevator maintenance engineer. Newspapers covered the accidents heavily, and the fear they caused made tenants reluctant to rent offices.

    Source: Wikipedia

  5. 1915

    July

    The New York Sun moves in after the Tract Society gives the building up to its lender

    Unable to pay the principal on its mortgage by 1913, the American Tract Society surrendered the tower to New York Life Insurance in 1914 and moved out that August. The Sun Printing and Publishing Association, publisher of the Sun and the Evening Sun, then leased the lower floors, and space for its newspapers was built in the light court in 1914-15. The Sun moved in during July 1915 and stayed until 1919.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  6. 2007

    A Google executive buys a penthouse here that has an 80-foot slide

    When the tower's upper floors were converted to condominiums between 1999 and 2002, the top three floors became a penthouse called the Skyhouse, designed by David Hotson and Ghislaine Vinas. Its 6,400 square feet include a roof terrace, 18-foot ceilings and an 80-foot slide. It went unsold until 2007, when Google engineering director Craig Nevill-Manning and his wife bought it, and it was back on the market by 2013 at $20 million.

    “The penthouse unit went unsold until 2007 when it was purchased by Google engineering director Craig Nevill-Manning and his wife.”

    Source: Wikipedia

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