Block Hall

21 South William Street | also 45 Stone Street | Financial District | built 1928

Open on the map5 entries

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

  1. 1926

    December 20

    Block Hall, Inc. buys 21-23 South William Street for a banking and insurance luncheon club

    On December 20, 1926, a newly formed club of bankers and marine insurance men bought the old buildings on this lot. They named it Block Hall for the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block and planned a private social, athletic and luncheon club. More than 100 members joined before construction began, attracted by planned courts for squash, racquets and handball and a gymnasium.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1927

    William Neil Smith gives the Block Hall clubhouse an English Tudor look

    Architect William Neil Smith gave the clubhouse an English look, using a steep tiled roof, half-timbering, windows of many small panes and porches that project forward. Plans also promised a small garden and an ivy-covered balcony. The club hosted squash tournaments against rivals such as the New York Athletic Club and the Yale and Princeton clubs.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1932

    The Corn Exchange Bank forecloses on Block Hall after the crash

    Many members who had made their money in banking and insurance were ruined by the crash of 1929, and the club had trouble carrying a mortgage of about $360,000. The Corn Exchange Bank foreclosed in 1932, and the club then reorganized under the name Block Hall Luncheon Club and carried on as the bank's tenant.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1968

    The clubhouse interior is remade for the Italian Alps restaurant

    The Midday Club leased the clubhouse in the 1940s, and by 1968 its interior had been reworked for the Italian Alps restaurant and offices. The original plans placed a lounge on the lower floors, dining rooms on floors three to five, and squash and handball courts, a billiards room and a gymnasium on the two top levels. The building was vacant when the Stone Street district was designated.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  5. 2006

    The former club becomes a pub with apartments above

    Block Hall was converted in 2006, with a ground-floor pub that suits the Tudor architecture and five apartments on each upper floor. The building stands beside C. P. H. Gilbert's 1903 Flemish Revival buildings on a bend of South William Street.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 276 buildings with stories in Financial District