Lorrain Freeman House

198 Prince Street | also 198A Prince Street | SoHo | built 1832

Open on the map6 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. 1831

    Ironmonger Lorrain Freeman builds a two-story brick house, raised to four stories in 1876

    Lorrain Freeman, an ironmonger, built the house in 1831-32 as a brick row house of two stories with an attic and peaked roof. In 1876 the owner Henry Pull hired Frederick Graul to raise it two stories, giving it a flat roof, a galvanized iron cornice, and a shop in the basement and first story. The historic basement storefront and parts of the marble stoop survive.

    “This building appears to have been constructed as a two-story row house with an attic and peaked roof in 1831-1832 by Lorrain Freeman, who was an iron monger.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1863

    August 6

    Deputy sheriff Jeremiah Duane, burned out in the Draft Riots, files a $4,703 claim and moves in

    Jeremiah Duane, a deputy sheriff earning $134 a month, lost his family's home and belongings when a mob set fire to the building at 46th Street and Third Avenue that held a provost marshal's office. A stranger had warned his wife the day before to move out. On August 6, 1863 Duane filed a city claim for $4,703.46 in lost property, and that year 198 Prince Street became his family's home.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1868

    April

    Police Captain John Jourdan, a celebrated detective, buys the house for $13,000

    John Jourdan, the son of poor Irish immigrants, joined the police as a patrolman in 1853 and soon made his name as a detective, recovering $20,000 in stolen jewelry within about a year. He became a sergeant in 1860 and a captain in 1863. In April 1868 he and his wife bought 198 Prince Street, and on April 11, 1870 he was promoted to Superintendent of Police. His reputation later earned him comparison to Sherlock Holmes.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1870

    October 10

    Police Superintendent Jourdan dies at home after the unsolved Nathan murder case wears him down

    Three months after his promotion, the murder of millionaire Benjamin Nathan landed on Jourdan's desk, and the case remained unsolved. The Times said he barely slept for a month afterward, and he fell gravely ill. Commissioners and captains crowded the house on Prince Street, and he died there at 11:45 on the night of October 10, 1870. The police force turned out for his funeral mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1870

    December 2

    Burglars ransack the late superintendent's house and steal $60 of silverware

    Less than two months after Jourdan's funeral, burglars broke into the house around 2:00 a.m. on December 2, 1870, while the household slept. They searched the rooms thoroughly and left with silverware valued at $60. The Times said the police had no clue to the thieves. The unnerving break-in may have helped persuade his widow to sell: she put the house up at auction on April 27, 1871.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  6. 1879

    Augusta Bleck sues her saloonkeeper husband for divorce, citing affairs in the house and at a hotel

    Herman Bleck, who owned a nearby saloon, bought the house in 1871 and married Augusta in 1873. In 1879 she sued for divorce, alleging adultery in the Prince Street house and with a woman at Paige's Hotel on Spring Street. Bleck's reply argued that she knew of his behavior, had lived with him afterward, and so forgave it. He had already sold the house by the time of the hearing.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 736 buildings with stories in SoHo