29 Howard Street

SoHo | built 1868

Open on the map4 entries

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

  1. 1868

    Edward Mathews has Renwick & Sands build a marble-and-iron loft at 29 Howard Street

    In 1859 the two-story building on this lot held John Hanselman's lager beer saloon, in a block lined with brothels and rooming houses. Edward Mathews bought the property in 1868 and hired James Renwick Jr. and Joseph Sands for a loft building. It has a two-story cast-iron base under three marble floors, with neo-Grec details and trailing fruit and vegetables carved on the columns.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  2. 1872

    August 12

    Shirt makers Finlay, Gourlay & Finch send finished shirts to a New Jersey laundry

    One of the first tenants, Finlay, Gourlay & Finch made shirts in the loft and shipped them to the firm's laundry in Jamesburg, New Jersey. It advertised for ironers in August 1872 and again in May 1873 for six more. The firm was reorganized as Downs, Gourlay & Finch, then as George Gourlay alone, and in April 1878 the Herald reported Gourlay near bankruptcy after the Panic of 1873.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  3. 1888

    September

    A check-forging gang targets stationers Stewart, Warren & Co.

    Stewart, Warren & Co., 'manufacturing stationers' who printed checks, became known to a gang of forgers in 1888. A well-dressed member would present a forged letter on company letterhead asking to borrow blank checks as samples. In September the bookkeeper at Heissenbottle, Nearing & Co. noticed the firm's name was misspelled and refused, and the Evening Telegram warned businessmen the ring was gathering blanks.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

  4. 2003

    Upper floors become live-work quarters for artists

    After the building's last apparel tenant left in 1915, a trunk company, equipment dealers, an envelope printer and a belt maker used it. In 2003 the upper floors were converted to joint living and working quarters for artists, one per floor. The ground floor housed the Ralo Tibet Carpet store until about 2014, and the BDDW gallery opened there in 2018.

    Source: Daytonian in Manhattan

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