Caxton Press Building

171 MacDougal Street | also 173 MacDougal Street | Greenwich Village | built 1891

Open on the map4 entries

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

  1. 1891

    Renwick, Aspinwall and Russell design the Caxton Press bookbindery building

    Archimedes D. Russell commissions the firm of Renwick, Aspinwall and Russell to design a six-story Romanesque Revival factory, built from 1890 and finished in 1891 for $70,000. Its pressed Philadelphia brick front has two-story elliptical arches and angled bays. Bookbinders Tomkins, McIndoe & Co. lease it before construction starts, along with their subsidiary publisher, the Caxton Press. In 1895 the two firms together have 152 workers.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1942

    May 31

    The Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist dedicates its Village church

    The Tenth Church of Christ, Scientist buys the vacant Caxton Press building in 1927 and renovates it as a church. Its members worship there for 15 years before a dedication service, because Christian Scientists may not dedicate a church until it is entirely free of debt. About 400 people attend the dedication of the $158,000 building, reported in the New York Times on June 1, 1942.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1967

    November 5

    A modernist renovation replaces the building's 1891 facade

    In 1966 the church starts a $600,000 renovation by Connecticut architect Victor Christ-Janer that removes the Romanesque Revival front. Architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable publicly regrets the loss of the late 19th-century facade. The remodeled building is dedicated on November 5, 1967.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 2009

    A renovation recreates the building's original 1891 facade

    By 2009 the church's upper floors have sat unused for years, so it sells the top portion to a developer to pay for improvements. Architects from four firms then produce a near recreation of the 1891 facade, including the angled bays, though most original details had been knocked off in 1966. The work wins a Regina Kellerman Award from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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All 518 buildings with stories in Greenwich Village