John Brower House
281 Bleecker Street | also 33 Jones Street | West Village | built 1813
Open on the map6 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.
- 1813
John Brower's house of about 1813 is the oldest structure in the historic district extension
The Landmarks Preservation Commission notes that 281 Bleecker Street, built around 1813 for John Brower, appears to be the oldest structure in the Greenwich Village Historic District Extension II. It began as a three-and-a-half-story Federal house with a peaked roof. By the 1850s it held both a residence and a drugstore.
- 1832
A. Rogers' Sons opens its second drugstore on the ground floor
In 1832 owner Charles Miller converted the ground floor for the pharmacist Arthur H. Rogers, who already ran a drugstore at 193 Spring Street. As his sons joined, the shop became A. Rogers' Sons and was a Bleecker Street fixture for decades. It was best known for its Citrate Magnesia, which was advertised in magazines such as Puck in 1880.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1890
Hugh Slevin raises the house to four full stories
Hugh Slevin bought the building in 1890. By then it was a three-family tenement with a store. He added a full fourth story and replaced the granite lintels and columns at the ground floor with new columns and iron girders.
- 1894
The Bernheimer & Schwartz brewery takes over the corner saloon
Starting in 1894 the saloon was leased to Anton Schwartz and the brothers Max and Simon Bernheimer, owners of the Bernheimer & Schwartz brewery. Breweries commonly ran their own saloons so that only their beer was sold. The brewery stayed until 1908, and a saloon was run here until Prohibition took effect in 1920.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1903
A resident and a fellow driver are caught stealing drug shipments from delivery wagons
Robert Kirchner, 19, who lived upstairs, was fired as a driver for an expressman in 1903. He then plotted with another driver, Henry Rose, to steal packages from other wagons headed for a wholesale drug firm. Detectives who had been trailing the drivers burst into a Carmine Street drugstore one Saturday night in June as the two handed over a box. Both were arrested for larceny, along with the druggist.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
- 1957
Ottomanelli's meat market opens here and stays until 1989
In 1957 Ottomanelli's Meat Market took the ground floor, replacing a bakery, and became a destination as A. Rogers' Sons had been. When it closed after 32 years in 1989, neighbors were relieved to see it reopen a week later two doors away at 285 Bleecker. The Mongioi family has owned the building since 1923, and the corner is now a bar, the Blind Tiger.
Source: Daytonian in Manhattan
Further reading
- The John Brower House - 281 Bleecker StreetDaytonian in Manhattan
Nearby
- 283 Bleecker Street2 entries
- Charles Miller House31 Jones Street | 6 entries
- Michael Puels Building285 Bleecker Street | 5 entries
- 29 Jones Street1 entry
- 287 Bleecker Street1 entry
- 277 Bleecker Street1 entry