259 Front Street
also 40 Dover Street | Financial District | built 1910
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.
- 1801
David Lydig buys the water lots at the foot of Dover Street and has them filled in
The flour merchant David Lydig bought the water lots between today's Front and South Streets at the foot of Dover Street in 1801. Over the next six years he had the land filled in. On that new ground he built a counting-house at 160 South Street in 1807, then a warehouse at 259 Front Street the following year.
- 1808
David Lydig's Federal warehouse goes up at 259 Front Street
Built in 1807-08 for the flour merchant David Lydig, this Federal-style warehouse stood on the filled land west of his South Street counting-house. It seems to have been three stories high at first, perhaps with a hipped roof like other early corner buildings in the Seaport. The Flemish bond brick and splayed brownstone lintels of the second and third floors mark the original part, and the fourth story was added later.
“This Federal style building was erected in 1807-08 for David Lydig, the prominent flour merchant whose first store in the area was at 160 South Street.”
- 1825
The Erie Canal ends the boom in David Lydig's flour business
Lydig's flour trade thrived until the Erie Canal opened in 1825. The landmarks report says he realized the canal would let grain from upstate farms reach the city quickly and cheaply, which made the price of his flour look high by comparison. He had by then put up three connected buildings, at 259 Front Street, 160 South Street and 36-38 Dover Street.
Nearby
- 160 South Street1 entry
- 252 Front Street2 entries
- 237 Front Street1 entry
- 250 Front Street1 entry
- 248 Front Street2 entries
- 246 Front Street1 entry