211 Front Street
also 142 Beekman Street | Financial District | built 1885
Open on the map3 entries
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.
- 1885
Ellen Auchmuty, a Schermerhorn descendant, commissions a Romanesque Revival building from George B. Post
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The building at 142-144 Beekman Street (211 Front Street) went up in 1885 for Ellen S. Auchmuty, a descendant of the Schermerhorn family. Her architect was George B. Post, who had trained under Richard Morris Hunt and had already designed the Long Island Historical Society building in Brooklyn Heights. His old New York Times Building followed in 1889.
“…erected in 1885 for Ellen S. Auchmuty, a Schermerhorn descendent. It was designed by George B. Post…”
- 1885
A fish dealer is the first occupant, and the building stays tied to the Fulton Fish Market
Samuel T. Skidmore, a fish dealer, was the first occupant of the new building. Over the decades it housed businesses connected to the nearby Fulton Fish Market. The LPC report repeats a reputed story that it once held a Western Union office, where merchants and customers exchanged orders and replies before telephones came into use.
- 1885
Terra-cotta fish, starfish washers and cockleshells decorate the facade
Post gave the market building a sea theme. Terra-cotta keystones above the four stories of round-arched windows carry carved fish, the tie-rod washers are starfish shaped, and the roof cornice is made of terra-cotta cockleshells that echo the arched windows in miniature. The ground floor is cast iron.
“…keystones displaying fanciful decorative fish. The starfish tie rod washers continue the maritime theme, as does the elaborate cockleshell roof cornice…”
Nearby
- 146 Beekman Street1 entry
- 213 Front Street1 entry
- 150 Beekman Street1 entry
- 156 Beekman Street2 entries
- 212 Front Street1 entry
- 107 South Street2 entries