De Forest House

26 Bond Street | NoHo | built 1831

Open on the map4 entries

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. 1831

    The merchant De Forest family moves into a new Federal house at 26 Bond Street

    Merchant Alfred De Forest bought the lot from James Roosevelt in 1831 and moved in with his uncle and business partner, Benjamin De Forest, and their families. Alfred lived here until his death in 1847 and Benjamin until his in 1850. George B. De Forest, another merchant who married one of Benjamin's daughters, lived in the house off and on in the 1840s.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1880

    The house is a boarding house for mostly Swiss watchcase makers and then converted to shops

    By 1880 the former merchant's house was a boardinghouse run by Eugene Regard, an immigrant from France, and his wife, Mariette, for eleven Swiss lodgers, most of whom made watchcases. Alterations in 1882 turned all or part of it into second-class stores. By 1890 furriers, a neckwear company and a trimmings dealer were tenants, and the next year records called it a workshop and tenement.

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  3. 1883

    March 18

    Railway passenger agents hold their spring meeting at 26 Bond Street, by then a converted mansion

    On March 18, 1883 the National Association of General Passenger Agents of the Railways of the United States held its spring meeting at the house. The gathering was meant to ease disputes among rival railroad lines, and the Times said Commissioner Fink might be able to head off a rate war. By then the family's old rooms were being rented out for business.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1888

    July 25

    Anthony Comstock leads a raid on a second-floor gambling room at 26 Bond Street

    Detectives led by Anthony Comstock raided a second-floor gambling room on the night of July 25, 1888. They arrested the reputed proprietor, a dealer and a lookout, let six others go and seized the gaming equipment. In 1890 police linked a second-floor poolroom here to a plot to tap telegraph wires and fake race results.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

Nearby

All 222 buildings with stories in NoHo