The John A. Squires House

271 East 7th Street | East Village | built 1900

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. 1843

    A row of Greek Revival townhouses rises on East 7th Street

    No. 271 East 7th Street was completed in 1843 as one of a row of brick-faced houses, each 22 feet wide and three stories tall. Its full-height third floor, unusual for the Greek Revival style, showed the influence of the coming Italianate fashion.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1861

    Tragedy strikes the Squires family after they buy the house

    John A. Squires, a partner in a painting firm, bought the house in 1861 from Edwin Tallmadge, a neighbor. Over the next years the family suffered repeated losses: nine-year-old Joseph died in 1865, son John H. at 22 in 1870, and eight-year-old Robert, struck by a railroad car, in 1871. Mary R. Squires died in 1874.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1886

    Jewish Theological Seminary founder Joseph Newburger leases the house

    Joseph Emanuel Newburger, a lawyer born in 1853 and a founder of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, leased the house in 1886 and moved in with his sister and mother. He became a City Court judge in 1890 and a state Supreme Court justice in 1905. His stay began a tradition of judges living here.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1901

    Tammany Hall leader Benjamin Hoffman buys the house

    Judge Benjamin Hoffman, the Tammany Hall leader of the Sixth Assembly District, bought the house in 1901 and hired Rogers & Stander for interior renovations. He lived here until his death from a stroke in 1922. His wife Rebecca, also a political leader, stayed until she died in 1931, when the address was known as Political Row.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

Further reading

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