Henry Street Settlement

265 Henry Street | Lower East Side | built 1900

Open on the map4 entries

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

1. 1827

   A Federal-style townhouse rises at 265 Henry Street

   No. 265 Henry Street is completed in 1827, one of a row of Federal-style brick houses built for the city's merchant class. Its brickwork is laid in Flemish bond over a brownstone basement, and its doorway has fluted Ionic colonettes.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

2. 1895

   Spring

   Jacob Schiff buys the house for Lillian Wald's nursing service

   Nurse Lillian Wald and her friend Mary Brewster set up a Visiting Nurses Service with donated funds, and by January 1894 they have called on more than 125 families. In the spring of 1895 the banker Jacob Schiff buys 265 Henry Street for the young organization. The attic is raised to a full third floor, and soon eleven residents live in the house.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

3. 1933

   Lillian Wald retires after four decades running the settlement

   Lillian Wald retires after four decades of service in 1933, when her nursing staff numbers 265. That year the nurses make 550,000 home visits. Wald dies in 1940.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

4. 1966

   The city landmarks the settlement's three Federal rowhouses

   In 1966 the three Federal-style houses at 263 through 267 Henry Street, which hold the settlement's administrative offices, are designated individual city landmarks. No. 265 is restored in 1992. Its fine doorway and the original ironwork of its stoop have survived a century of use by the settlement.

   Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

• The Henry Street Settlement House -- 265 Henry StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
• Henry Street Settlement: From the doors of old townhouses springs the compassionate heart of the Lower East SideThe Bowery Boys

Nearby

• Engine Company 15 Firehouse269 Henry Street | 6 entries
• Henry Street Settlement (No. 267)267 Henry Street | 6 entries
• Henry Street Settlement265 Henry Street | 10 entries
• Henry Street Settlement (No. 263)263 Henry Street | 4 entries
• Isaac T. Ludlam House281 East Broadway | 5 entries
• St. Augustine's Church290 Henry Street | 5 entries

All 78 buildings with stories in Lower East Side