Cornelius H. Hedden House

28 Bethune Street | West Village | built 1845

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. 1845

    Six Greek Revival houses go up on Bethune Street in two groups, No. 28 among them

    The row of six three-story houses at Nos. 24-34 was built in 1844-45 in two groups, with Nos. 24-28 distinct from Nos. 30-34, which were built for the agent Thomas Cudbirth. The builder Alexander R. Holden owned two of the lots and helped build the row. No. 28 keeps its stoop, its original cast iron handrailings and a delicate newel ringed by the curve of the rail.

    “The houses were built in two groups, Nos. 30-34 and 24-28, as is clearly shown by the difference in window alignment.”

    Source: NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission

  2. 1902

    January 6

    Cornelius and Martha Hedden mark fifty years of marriage after decades at No. 28

    The Heddens lived at 28 Bethune from at least 1861 and raised a large family there, holding several children's funerals in the parlor. For their golden anniversary on January 6, 1902, their son Edward gave a dinner at his Madison Avenue home. Guests included the best man and a bridesmaid from the 1852 wedding, and the New York Herald reported that both parents were in perfect health.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1928

    December 23

    A sailor courts a Bethune Street daughter by letter for ten years, then arrives to marry her

    In 1918 Anastasia Addish invited two sailors from the transport Louisville to dinner, and Chester Hadsell of Colorado fell for her daughter Jane. They wrote for ten years, and he reached New York on December 23, 1928, to marry her. The couple rented the second-floor front room at 28 Bethune for $20 a week, but by April 1929 the marriage had broken down and Jane filed for divorce.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 1939

    May 28

    A roomer drowns when a fishing cruiser capsizes in the East River

    Albert Jennings, who rented a room at 28 Bethune, joined a fishing trip on the 32-foot cabin cruiser Bilot, which his social club had planned for weeks. Within ten minutes of leaving the East 78th Street pier, the boat overturned and threw 24 passengers and four crew into a racing tide. Jennings, 42, was the one body recovered that day.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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