Panhard & Levassor Building

230 West 13th Street | West Village | built 1901

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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. 1901

    Robert Maynicke designs a low industrial building for James S. Herman at 230-232 West 13th Street

    In 1901 architect Robert Maynicke designed the low building for James S. Herman as a combined office, factory, shop and stable. The Landmarks Preservation Commission's Greenwich Village report says industry entered this residential block with it, and ties its rusticated brickwork and radial brick keystones to the Eclecticism that followed the 1893 Chicago world's fair. It later became a studio building.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1903

    December 1

    The Paris automaker Panhard & Levassor opens its American branch in the new building

    The Evening Post reported on October 6, 1903 that Panhard & Levassor, makers of automobiles and motor boats in Paris, had taken a five-year lease. A newspaper notice announced the American branch would open December 1 at 230-232 West 13th Street, selling cars and boats and doing repairs and parts. The Automobile Magazine welcomed it in January 1904, saying buyers would now get proper service from factory mechanics.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1904

    October 8

    A Panhard driven by George Heath wins the first Vanderbilt Cup

    William K. Vanderbilt II financed the first Vanderbilt Cup race to draw American makers into racing, and most spectators expected an American car to win on October 8, 1904. Instead George Heath, driving a Panhard, crossed the line first. The company, whose American branch was on West 13th Street, said it would exhibit the winning cup at its January 1905 stand in the Madison Square Garden show.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1914

    The Barnes School of Embalming occupies the building after a string of short-term tenants

    After Panhard & Levassor left, tenancies were brief. The Marine Engine & Machine Co. leased the building in March 1906 for its elevator construction department, and the U.S. Chemical Co. took it in February 1910 for offices. The Barnes School of Embalming was the occupant by 1914.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  5. 1924

    The Moisant Ozonized Water Company takes over the building

    In 1924 the Moisant Ozonized Water Company moved in. The Boston-based firm sold drinking water for office coolers and supplied the coolers too, promoting ozone as its method of purification. An earlier tenant, the Johnson-McCabe graphite refiner, had gone bankrupt in February 1917, less than half a year after signing a five-year lease.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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