John Harrison House

201 Mott Street | Nolita | built 1900

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1837

   February

   Carter John Harrison signs a petition against extending Centre Street through the neighborhood

   In 1837 John Harrison, a carter, was leasing this two-and-a-half-story house, a frame building faced in red brick with brownstone trim. That February he joined neighbors in signing a petition to the mayor against extending Centre Street from Broome to Houston Street, which the petitioners said would cut across five large blocks at a sharp angle. His household was crowded: his wife, three sons and a grocer named Michael Dunn who rented a room.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1843

   Two Harrison brothers win American Institute awards for copper tea kettles

   Two of John Harrison's sons grew up to be metalworkers rather than carters. In 1843 the American Institute gave Thomas Harrison an award for the best copper tea kettle, and George Harrison one for a miniature tea kettle. Their brother James worked as a laborer, and the family no longer appears at this address after 1847.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1886

   August

   The owners pay $1,200 to turn the attic into a full floor and put on an iron cornice

   In August 1886 owners Henry and Margaret Fitzpatrick paid $1,200 for raising the attic to a full floor and adding an iron cornice. The contractors, Wunnenberg & Johnson, did not try to match the original Flemish-bond brickwork, so the addition is only slightly noticeable. The cornice gave the old house an Italianate look.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1903

   Italian families, including the Mottas, move into the little Mott Street house

   The Fitzpatricks' daughter advertised the house in 1902 as a small house and lot, and Catherine A. McGill bought it in spring 1903. The earlier tenants had mostly been Irish, but the area was now mainly Italian, and McGill's tenants included the Motta family. Salvatore Motta used the address for a contracting firm as late as 1910, and Nicholas Motta ran a real estate business here through 1918.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The John Harrison House -- No. 201 Mott StreetDaytonian in Manhattan

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All 41 buildings with stories in Nolita